544 
THE STUD V OF INSECTS. 
The family Dascyllidas (Das-cyl'li-dae) includes certain 
beetles that live on plants, usually near the water. The legs 
are short with slender tibise; the tarsi are five-jointed; the 
posterior coxae are transverse, and dilated into a plate partly 
covering the femora ; the anterior coxae are transverse ; and 
the abdomen has five free, ventral segments, the fifth 
rounded at tip. About fifty species occur in North America. 
The larvae, of several species at least, live in rotten wood. 
The family RlilPlCERlD^E (Rhip-i-cer'i-dae) is represented 
in this country by a very small number of species, which are 
most commonly found on cedars. The antennae are serrate 
in the females, frequently flabellate in the males. The an¬ 
terior and middle coxae are conical and prominent, the 
former with large trochantins; the posterior coxae are 
transverse, and dilated into a small plate partly covering the 
femora. 
Family ELATERID^: (El-a-ter'i-dae). 
The Click-beetles or Elaters (. El'a-ters ). 
There is hardly a country child that has not been enter- 
tertained by the acrobatic performances of the long, tidy- 
appearing beetles called snapping-bugs, click-beetles, 
or skip-jacks (Fig. 653). Touch one of them and it 
at once curls up its legs, and drops as if shot; it 
fWl usually lands on its back, and lies there for a time as 
Fig. 653. if dead. Suddenly there is a click, and the insect 
pops up into the air several inches. If it comes down on its 
back, it tries again and again until it succeeds in striking on 
its feet, and then it runs off. 
We remember well carrying these creatures into the old 
district schoolhouse, where all lessons had to be learned 
from books, and where Nature was never given a chance to 
teach us anything. Here, with one eye on the teacher and 
one on this interesting jumper laid on our book behind the 
desk, we found a most fascinating occupation for the tedi¬ 
ous moments. But the end was always the same: the 
