THE PAINTED CLYTUS. 
103 
pollen, which they devour. During the month of Septem¬ 
ber, the painted Clytus, Clytus 'pictm* (Plate 11. Fig. 10,} is 
often seen in abmidance, feeding by day upon the blossoms 
of the o-olden-rod. If the trunks of our common locust-tree, 
o 
Rohinia pseudacacia^ are examined at this time, a still greater 
number of these beetles will be found upon them, and most 
often paired. The habits of this insect seem to have been 
known, as long ago as the year 1771, to Dr. John Reinhold 
Foster, who then described it under the name of Leptura 
Rohinice^ the latter being derived from the tree which it 
inhabits. Dmry, however, had previously described and 
figured it, under the specific name here adopted, which, 
ha\dng the priority, in point of time, over all the others that 
have been subsequently imposed, must be retained. This 
Capricorn-beetle has the form of the beautiful maple Clytus. 
It is velvet-black, and ornamented with transverse yellow 
bands, of which there are three on the head, four on the 
thorax, and six on the wing-covers, the tips of which are also 
edged with yellow. The first and second bands on each 
wing-cover are nearly straight; the third band forms a V, 
or, united with the opposite one, a IV, as in the speciosus; 
the fourth is also angled, and runs upwards on the inner 
marcrin of the wincp-cover towards the scutel; the fifth is 
broken or intermpted by a longitudinal elevated line; and 
the sixth is arched, and consists of three little spots. The 
antennae are dark brown; and the legs are rust-red. These 
insects vaiy from six tenths to three quarters of an inch in 
length. 
In the month of September these beetles gather on the 
locust-trees, wdiere they may be seen glittering in the sun¬ 
beams with their gorgeous livery of black velvet and gold, 
coursing up and down the trunks in pursuit of their mates, 
or to drive away their rivals, and stopping eveiy now and 
then to salute those they meet with a rapid bowing of the 
shoulders, accompanied by a creaking sound, indicative of 
* Lepturapicta^ Drury; ClytusJiexuosus, Fabricius. 
