94 
COLEOPTERA. 
on each or on most of the rings of which, both above and 
below, there is an oval space covered with little elevations, 
somewhat like the teeth of a fine rasp ; and these little oval 
rasps, which are designed to aid the grubs in their motions, 
fully make up to them the want of proper feet. 
Some of these borers always keep one end of their burrows 
open, out of which, from time to time, they cast their chips, 
resembling coarse sawdust ; others, as fast as they proceed, 
fill up the passages behind them with their castings, well 
known here by the name of powder-post. These borers 
live from one year to three or perhaps more years before 
they come to their growth. They undergo their transfor- 
mations at the furthest extremity of their burrows, many 
of them previously gnawing a passage through the wood to 
the inside of the bai’k, for their future escape. The pupa 
is at first soft and whitish, and it exhibits all the parts of 
the future beetle under a filmy veil which inwraps every 
limb. The wings and legs are folded upon the breast, the 
long antennae are turned back against the sides of the body, 
and then bent forwards between the legs. When the beetle 
has thrown off its pupa-skin, it gnaws away the thin coat 
of bark that covers the mouth of its burrow, and comes out 
of its dark and confined retreat, to breathe the fresh air, 
and to enjoy for the first time the pleasure of sight, and the 
use of the legs and wings with which it is provided. 
The Capricorn-beetles have been divided into three fami- 
lies, corresponding with the genera Prionus, Cerambyx, and 
Leptura of Linnaeus. Those belonging to the first family 
are generally of a brown color, have flattened and saw- 
toothed or beaded antennae of a moderate length, project- 
ing jaws, and kidney-shaped eyes. Those in the second 
have eyes of the same shape, more slender or much longer 
antennae, and smaller jaws ; and are often variegated in 
their colors. The beetles belonging to the third family are 
readily distinguished by their eyes, which are round and 
prominent. These three families are divided into many 
