58 
COLEOPTERA. 
These destructive insects belong to a family called Ly- 
mexylidje, which may he rendered timber-beetles. I hey 
cannot be far removed from the Buprestians and the spring- 
beetles in a natural arrangement. From the latter, however, 
the insects of this small group are distinguished by having 
the head broad before, narrowed behind, and not sunk into 
the thorax ; they have not the breast-spine of the Elaters, 
and their legs are close together, and not separated from 
each other by a broad breast-bone as in the Buprestians ; 
and the hip-joints are long, and not sunk into the breast. 
In the principal insects of this family the antennae are short, 
and, from the third joint, flattened, widened, and saw-toothed 
on the inside ; and the jaw-feelers of the males have a singu- 
lar fringed piece attached to them. The body is long, nar- 
row, nearly cylindrical, and not so firm and hard as in the 
Elaters. The feet are five-jointed, long, and slender. 
The larvae of Lymexylon and Hyleccetus are very odd- 
looking, long, and slender grubs. The head is small ; the 
first ring is very much hunched ; and on the top of the last 
ring there is a fleshy appendage, resembling a leaf in Ly- 
mexylon , and like a straight horn in Hylecoetm. They have 
six short legs near the head. These gi-ubs inhabit oak-trees, 
and make long cylindrical burrows in the solid wood. They 
are also found in some other kinds of trees. 
Only a few native insects of this family are known to me, 
and these fortunately seem to be rare in New 
England. I shall describe only two of them. 
The first was obtained by beating the limbs of 
some forest-tree. It may be called Lymexylon 
miceum (Fig. 80), the silky timber-beetle. It 
is of a chestnut-brown color above, and covered 
with very short shining yellowish hairs, which 
rrive it a silky lustre. The head is bowed down beneath 
the fore part of the thorax ; the eyes are very large, and 
almost meet above and below ; the an ten me are brownish 
red, widened and compressed from the fourth to the last 
I'lg. 30. 
