THE PAINTED CLYTUS. 
103 
pollen, which they devour. During the month of Septem- 
ber, the painted Clytus, Clytus pictus* ( Plate II. Fig. 10,) is 
often seen in abundance, feeding by day upon the blossoms 
of the golden-rod. If the trunks of our common locust-tree, 
Rolinia pseuclacacia , 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 
Iiobinice, the latter being derived from the tree which it 
inhabits. Drury, however, had previously described and 
figured it, under the specific name here adopted, which, 
having 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 arc nearly straight ; the third band forms a V, 
or, united with the opposite one, a W, as in the speciosics ; 
the fourth is also angled, and runs upwards on the inner 
margin of the wing-cover towards the scutel ; the fifth is 
broken or interrupted 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 vary from sik tenths to three quarters of an inch in 
length. 
In the month of September these beetles gather on the 
locust-trees, where 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 every now and 
then to salute those they meet with a rapid bowing of the 
shoulders, accompanied by a creaking sound, indicative of 
* Lipt ui'a picta, Drury; Clytus Jlexuosus, Fabricius. 
