THE SPIUNG-BEETLES. 
55 
sides with short spines ; the time legs were six, a pair to 
each of the first three rings ; and were tipped with a single 
claw. Soon after this grub was found, it cast its skin and 
became a pupa, and in due time the latter was transformed 
to a beetle. 
Elater ( Pyropliorus ) noctilucus , the night-shining Elater, 
is the celebrated cucuio or fire-beetle of the West Indies, 
from whence it is frequently brought alive to this country. 
It resembles the preceding insect somewhat in form, and is 
an inch or more in length. It gives out a strong light from 
two transparent eye-like spots on the thorax, and from the 
segments of its body beneath. It eats the pulpy substance 
of the sugar-cane, and its grub is said to be very injurious 
to this plant, by devouring its roots. 
The next two common Elaters, together with several other 
species, are distinguished by their claws, which resemble lit- 
tle combs, being furnished with a row of fine teeth along the 
underside. The thorax is short and rounded before, and 
the body tapers behind. They arc found under the bark of 
trees, where they pass the winter, having completed their 
transformations in the previous autumn. Their 
"rubs live in wood. The first of these beetles is 
the ash-colored Elater, Elater ( Melanotus ) cine- 
reus of Weber (Fig. 28). It is about six tenths 
of an inch long, and is dark brown, but covered 
with short gray hairs, which give it an. ashen 
hue; the thorax is convex, and the wing-covers 
are marked with lines of punctures, resembling stitches. It 
is found on fences, the trunks of trees, and in paths, in 
April and May. 
Elater ( Melanotus ) communis of Schonherr, is, as its name 
implies, an exceedingly common and abundant species. It 
closely resembles the preceding, but is smaller, seldom ex- 
ceeding half an inch in length ; it is also rather lighter 
colored ; the thorax is proportionally a little longer, not so 
convex, and has a slender longitudinal furrow in the middle. 
Fig. 28. 
