COLEOPTERA. 
143 
jack falls down and “ shams dead all of a sudden it 
will spring into the air with a peculiar and distinct 
click, and alight on its legs. The Wire-worms, so in¬ 
jurious in the field and garden, are the larvae of these 
Click-beetles. The reddish-yellow “ Soldiers,” the black 
“Sailors” ( Telephoridce ), so abundant everywhere, possess 
a head not concealed within the thorax; they are active, 
predaceous insects. The Glow-worm (. Lampyris nodi - 
luca), the only luminous British insect, has its head 
deeply hidden by the thorax, and the form of the male 
resembles that of the Skip-jack. The female is a fleshy, 
flat, six-footed grub in appearance, and is entirely des¬ 
titute of wings and antennse, and much resembles the 
larva. The phosphorescent light has been seen in both 
sexes of the insect, but it is more especially conspicuous 
in the female; it proceeds from the underside of the 
abdomen, near the tail, and appears to be under the 
control of the insect. The larvae and perfect insects 
feed on snails. The Death-watch-beetle ( Anobium 
tessellation) belongs to a destructive family of wood¬ 
boring beetles, which form round tunnels in books, 
furniture, and the woodwork of houses. The ticking 
noise is probably made by the little beetles jaws against 
the hard wood. Like the Skip-jacks, these Death-watch- 
beetles are great shammers. 
The Heteromera section is divided, by Westwood, 
into two tribes, the Traclielia , where there is a distinct 
neck behind the eyes; and the Atrachelia , where the 
head is immersed in the thorax. Most of the Traclielia 
are active insects, and some of beautiful colouring, such 
as the Cardin: >eetles ( Pyrochroa rubens and P. coc - 
cinea). Tin- msh Blister-fly ( Lytta vesicatoria) y of 
