E L A 
E L A 
401 
they are fmall, feveral on the fame peduncle ; petals 
whitifli-green ; ftamens whitifh, kinuginofe. They have 
no fmell, but a rough tafte ; fruits oblong-round, final!, 
like a wild plum, with a hard woody point at top, co¬ 
vered with the calyx at bottom, firft green, then red, but 
when ripe of a reddilh brown, or blackifh and fliining, 
•covered with a thin rind that is eafily broken, and having 
a whitifh fweet farinaceous pulp within ; the nut or (tone 
is oblong, rufous, marked longitudinally with a deep 
furrow, and containing a whitifh bitter kernel ; the fruits 
grow on green, fmooth, fliining, branches, near a yard 
long, and two fingers broad, flat, (tiff, and woody; whence 
a clear auftere liquor flows when they are cut or wounded. 
The poorer fort of people chew the nut in the fame man¬ 
ner with the areca-nut, with the leaf of the betel and 
quick-lime. The elephants are very fond of the fruit 
branches, which are very fweet. The leaves, fruit, &c. 
are very aftringe-nt, and are looked upon as powerful in 
flopping fluxes. Native of tlie Eaft Indies. Introduced 
about 1763, by John Blackburne, efq. For the Propaga¬ 
tion and Culture , fee Palms. 
EL'ATER, J'. [eAc-hv, to agitate.} The Skipper ; in 
entomology, a genus of infers belonging to the order of 
coieoptera. The antennas of fome elateres are fetaceous, 
others filiform, pedlinated,' or ferrated. Their 1 irvas 
live in decayed trunks of trees, where they undergo their 
metamoruhofes. Many of the coleopterous infedts have 
a great difficulty in reftoring themfelves when laid on the 
back ; the apparatus with which the infects of this genus 
are provided for that purpofe, is fingular and curious. 
An elaftic fpring, or Ipine, projects from the hinder ex¬ 
tremity of the bread, and there is a groove or cavity in 
the anterior part of the abdomen. When laid on its 
back, the infedl raifes and fuftains itfelf on the anterior 
part of the head and the extremity of the body, by w hich 
means the fpine is removed from the groove where it is 
lodged, when in. its natural pofition ; then fuddenly 
bending its body, the fpine is ftruck with force, acrofs a 
fmall ridge or elevation, into the cavity from whence it 
was withdrawn ; by which fliock, the parts of the body 
before Curtained in the air, are fo forcibly beat againft 
whatever the infedl is laid on, as to caufe it to fpring or 
rebound to a confideraple diftance. The antennas are 
lodged in a cavity fcooped out of the under tide of the 
head and thorax, probably to prefe-rve them, when the 
infedl falls, after its fingular leap. 
There are no lefs than one hundred anci eighty-three 
fpecies of this genus of infedts now afeertained ; of which 
tuenty-fix are found in England. They are all eafily 
diftinguifhed from every other genus by the fpine at the 
extremity of the thorax ; a charabler which fcarcely any 
other infect poffefles. The phofphoreus, nodlilucus, and 
feveral other fpecies of this infedl, give out a ftrong phof- 
phoric light in the night time, the-dreams of which are fo 
luminous, that a perfon may lee to read the fmalleft print, 
-by placing them on the leaf of a book. The elegant 
fpecies delineated on the annexed engraving, are as fol¬ 
low : Fig. 1. -Elater Flabellicornis, with fan-'fhaped an¬ 
tennas ; the large-ft of the genus yet known; meafuring 
about two inches and a half from the head to the anus. 
The head is fmall, and of a fquarifli form, furrounded 
with a fmall black margin, having four palpi, two of 
them very ftiort; the eyes are brown and fliining ; the 
antennae are the length of the thorax, and black; thofe 
of the male are pectinated, or rather laminated, having 
not lefs than eight dirtindt plates or laminae lying clofe 
to each other, which, when clofed together, appear to 
be of equal thicknefs. The general colour of the infedl 
i-s a dark fliining bronze : the thorax has a black margin, 
terminating on the tides in two fliarp fpines ; the efeut- 
cbeon is fmall ; the wing-cafes or (hells are fmooth and 
gloffy, without any margin, and rounding at their extre¬ 
mities, without any fpines ; the elaftic fpring is black, 
and fmall for the fize of tlie infedl. All the under part 
Vol. VI. No.. 5.59. 
of the infedl is the fame colour as the upper ; the 
bearers cr feet confift of five articulations, befides the 
hooks or claws. It is a native of India; that which is 
figured in the engraving was found at Sierra Leona, on 
the coaft of Africa. 
Fig. 2. The Porcatus: a beautiful fpecies, and large, 
meafuring an inch and three quarters. The head is a 
dark braft'y green ; the eyes brown and fliining; the an- 
tenme black, confiding of ten articulations; the-thorax 
on the (ides is yellow, having a broad bar of a green co¬ 
lour running longitudinally from the head to the hinder 
part, being marginat-ed witji black ; the wing-cafes are 
deeply furrowed with green and yellowifk lines, the (ides 
having a broad yellow flripe all round them, and are 
marginated with black ; the extremities rounded, and not 
ending in a fpine ; the bread, abdomen, and legs, are en¬ 
tirely dark green ; the elaftic fpring is black and large.; 
the bearers confift of five articulations belides the hooks. 
It inhabits South America: tlie one figured in the en¬ 
graving was brought from the Bay of Honduras. 
Fig. 3. The Auratus, ranked among the moft elegant 
of the elateres, is alfo large, meafuring near an inch and 
three-fourths. The head is green ; the eyes black ; the 
antennae are black, and fhorter than the thorax, having 
at each joint fome fliort hairs, plainly to be difeovered 
when viewed through a microfcope ; the thorax is green, 
and margined, appearing as if finely polifhed ; the hinder 
corners being pointed, and forming obtufe angles ; the 
efcutcheon is round, and fliining ; the wing cafes are like- 
wife green, variegated with (hades of yellow arid gold, 
fhining, and margined ; their extremities terminating in 
two (harp points : all the under part of the infedl is of 
tlie fame fliining green as the upper, except the bearers, 
which are black, and confift of five articulations befides 
the claws. In this infedl the elaftic fpring is very large 
and ftrong, fo that it can jump to a conliderable height. 
This was brought from China. 
Fig. 4. The Serraticornis : meafures near an inch and 
a quarter. The head is reddifh brown ; the eyes fmall 
and black ; the antennae black, ferrated, and fhorter than 
the thorax ; the thorax is red-brown, with a dark longi¬ 
tudinal dagger-fhaped ftreak running along the middle 
from the head to the efcutcheon ; the (ides terminating 
in two angular points; the efcutcheon is fmall and brown; 
the wing-cafes are reddifh, brown, marginated, and end¬ 
ing in two fpines: they are a little ftriated, with three 
longitudinal dreaks of a dark brown colour ; the princi¬ 
pal one in the middle along the future, the others on each 
fide ; the bread and .fore-part of the abdomen is the fame 
red-brown colour as on the upper fide ; the hinder part 
of the abdomen is darker, having two remarkable oval 
fpots of a lightifti colour near the anus ; the bearers con¬ 
fift of no more than four articulations befides the hooks. 
This came from Rio Janeiro in the Brafils: it is alfo 
found in Italy. 
Fig. 5. The Angulatus : a degree larger than the pre¬ 
ceding. The head and eyes are black, the former being 
furnifhed with two remarkable thick and fliort horns or 
fpines ; the antennas are black, and ftrongly pedlinated, 
confiding of not lefs than ten articulations; the thorax is 
orange coloured, with a broad black ftreak down tlie 
middle. Two remarkable black lozerige-fhaped fpots are 
placed ndar tlie middle of the thorax, and are united to 
the longitudinal black ftreak. Clofe to thefeare two fin¬ 
gular fwellings, like protuberances, on the (ides of the 
thorax. The efcutcheon is black ; the wing cafes pale- 
orange, the fides and middle having three black ftripes 
running along them, the extremities ending in two fliarp 
fpines ; the bread is orange, with two long black (pots on 
the tides ; the abdomen is of a dark cream colour, with 
two black ftripes running along the fides from the bread, 
and joining at the anus; all the legs are orange; tlie 
bearers confiding of five articulations, befides the hooks. 
Native of the Brads. 
jK Fig, 
