December S3, i860.] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 571 
serviceable than mischievous like their tough-hided brethren. 
The ‘ soldiers and “ sailors ” do not leap in the manner of the 
skipjacks, but they run rapidly up the stems and over the leaves. 
They are popularly named, not very appropriately from their 
colours ; the “ soldiers” having reddish-yellow wing-cases and paler 
legs, the “sailors” black or bluish-black wing-cases and red legs. 
These belong to the genus Telephones, of which there are about 
twenty British species. Their soft structure is, however, not an 
indication of pacific habits, for the beetles are carnivorous in 
habit, and should two of them meet they will engage each other. 
Occasionally the combat is carried on until the weaker is con¬ 
quered and then devoured, but more frequently after a scuffle 
they separate to seek prey more to their appetite. They feed 
particularly upon the smaller insects that haunt flowers during 
the summer.. Some of the larvae are unknown, but those that 
have been discovered live under the earth, feeding upon worms 
and small slugs from September to April, when they enter the 
pupal state. 
The curious and rather local glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca, 
fig. 102) is fond of sheltered and humid places, such as lanes near 
woods. In gardens this insect might be encouraged for the useful 
habits of the larva ; but it is not easy to establish a colony of 
glow-worms, and several failures have been reported. The female 
is a larva-like creature with neither wings nor wing-cases, and it 
emits a greenish blue light, the nature of which is still doubtful. 
This is certain, that it is under the control 
of the insect. The male, which has wings 
and flies at eventide, possesses two minute 
luminous dots on the head. The larva of 
the glow-worm also sheds a light, feebler 
than that of the female beetle, but which 
upsets the absurd theory that the latter 
wingless insect has this luminosity in order 
that the male beetle may discover it. At 
the tail of the glow-worm larva is an ap¬ 
pendage like a foot when it is partly drawn 
in. When thrust fully out it appears as a 
brush, and it is used by the larva to clear 
itself from the slime of the snails upon 
which it feeds ; and since this larva makes 
an especial attack upon these in the spring 
just about the breeding time, it must have 
an influence upon their multiplication 
wherever the glow-worm occurs commonly. 
The beetles of the genus Glerus are small 
and elegant, clothed with fine down, and 
rather harder than the preceding. One 
species calls for a remark in passing. This 
is C. apiarius, also known as the Hive 
Beetle, half an inch long, with a blue head 
and reddish wing-cases crossed by three 
blue lines. Though sometimes resorting to 
the nests of wild bees, the beetles prefer to 
enter hives, where they deposit eggs ; and 
the newly hatched larvae bore into the comb, 
where they seize upon the bee grubs that 
are attainable. Luckily, however, it is not 
an abundant species. The larvae are no 
doubt occasionally killed by the bees, though 
the shell of the beetles is elastic enough to throw off their stings. 
Last in this group come the retiring but busy beetles of the genus 
Anobium, to one or two species of which has been attached the 
ominous title of “death watches,” from a ticking noise produced 
by them while carrying on their operations in wood. This peculiar 
sound some ears fail to catch, hence sceptics have denied that 
these beetles are vocal; but the fact is unquestionable, though the 
omen which superstition links to it is ridiculous. It is not the 
gnawing operations of the insect that cause the ticking noise— 
that this is a call from one to another is now generally believed ; 
and to make it, the beetles strike with their heads against some 
hard substance. Larvae, pupae, and beetles may all be found 
together in decaying wood ; and as some of the species like variety 
in diet there will now and then be discovered in our seed drawers 
specimens of these, which, if not duly routed out, may increase to 
become troublesome. 
The next section of beetles, the Heteromera, “ unequal-jointed ” 
—that is, with five joints to the tarsi of the front legs and the 
middle pair, and four joints to those cf the hind pair. Their 
antennae are also “ moniliform,” resembling strung beads in 
miniature. In this section we do not discover a large number 
of native species, yet in it are some very observable species. It 
divides again into two groups, the species having a neck—Tra- 
chelia, and those having no neck, or the Airachelia. The former 
have not only the hind part of the head fully exposed to view, 
but also possess soft or flexible wing-cases, as in the familiar oil- 
beetle (Meloe cicatricosus), a slow-moving creature with a bulky 
abdomen, and of a steely blue tint, showing also a propensity to 
exude a fluid that is oily from the joints of the legs. This insect 
and others of the genus resort to flowers upon heaths or in hedge¬ 
rows ; when they enter gardens, as they occasionally do, they are 
apt to excite apprehensions which are needless, for in feeding 
they do but little harm to either leaves or flowers. The larvae 
are believed to live as parasites in the nests of wild bees—at least 
after a while, for the parent beetles deposit their eggs upon or 
near plants, up which the young larvae climb when they have 
gained sufficient strength. With singular instinct they manage 
to cling to the bodies of the bees when they are visiting flowers, 
and are thus carried by them to their nests, where they eat the 
pollen or honey stored by the bees for their own progeny. It 
has not been ascertained whether the Meloe larvae ever get into 
our hives. 
Rhipiphorus paradoxus is the name given to a small beetle, 
long regarded as & paradox, because naturalists could not imagine 
why specimens occurred near wasps’ nests. It has a black head 
with black wing-cases more or less tinged with yellow, and a 
black thorax which is humped. The male has a pair of beauti¬ 
fully feathered antennae. Recent observations prove that the 
larvae live amongst the cells where the wasps nurse their larvae or 
grubs, upon which the beetle larvae subsist, so that they assist in 
keeping down these troublesome visitants to our fruits. Pyrochoa 
coccinea is another beetle that is made conspicuous by its colour¬ 
ing—blackish in front, and a deep scarlet on the thorax and wing- 
cases, hence it has received the name of the “ Cardinal.” The 
perfect beetle is often seen amongst Ferns, while the larva has its 
abode in old Willows or Sallows. The Blistering Beetle (Can- 
tharis vesicatoria) belongs to this division, a species rare in 
England, and though of use in medicine, is an injurious insect to 
gardens where it is plentiful.—J. R. S. C. 
TOMATOES AT THE WEST LYNN VINEYARD. 
When passing through the houses of Mr. S. Castle the other 
day I was surprised to see the splendid crop of Tomatoes still 
hanging in various stages. Mr. S. Castle evidently understands 
the principles of Tomato culture ; he informed me that from the 
same plants, which have been fruiting since the commencement 
of the season, he has cut upwards of a ton weight of ripe fruits. 
The plants are trained up the back wall of a vinery, and also 
to wires fixed perpendicularly along the centre beds in this and 
other houses. They are planted in loam with an admixture of brick 
rubble, and have been watered occasionally with liquid manure. 
Mr. S. Castle, however, attributes his success to the naturally rich 
Fig. 102.—Male Glow-worm on the wing, females and larva? seeking food. 
