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Show 356 INSECTA. has the faculty of elongating and shortening its body, and of bending it underneath. It is probably carnivorous. . L.italica, L.; Oliv., Col. II, 28, ll, 12; theLucciolaofthe Italians. The thora:x. does not cover the whole head, is trans. versa!, and as well as the scu tel, pectus and one pair ot' legs red. dish; head, elytr·a and abdomen black; the two last annuli of the body yellowish; wings to both sexes(l). In our second division of the Lampyrides, the antennre are very remote at base; the head is neither prolonged nor narrowed anteriorly in the form of a snout, and the eyes at·e of an ordinary size in both sexes. DRrLus, Oliv.-Ptilinus, Geoff. Fab. The males are winged, and the inner side of the antennre, from the fou.rth joint, is prolonged like the tooth of a comb. Those of the females are shorter, somewhat perfoliaceous and slightly ser· rated. The maxillat·y palpi in both sexes are thicker towards the end, and terminate in a point. The inner si~e of the mandibles presents a tooth. The female of the species which is the type of the genus, and whose male is tolerably common, remained unknown until lately, as well as the metamorp_hoses of both sexes. Certain observations made at Geneva, by Count Mielzinsky, on the larva of this Insect and the perfect female, ~xcited the attention of two able Ft·ench na· turalists, MM. Desmarest and Victor Audouin. The latter had received from the author of the discovery several living larvre, which were found in the shell of a Helix nemoralis of Linnceus, and which together with the perfect female, the only sex he had obtained in that state, were described by him. But he was mistaken in con· sidering as pupre, larvre which had attained their full growth, and which pass the winter in the intet·ior of these shells. In this state, these Insects are tolerably similar to the larvre of the Euro· pean Lampyrides, but there are a range of conical mammillre on each side of their abd<lmen, and two series of hairy tufts on other elevations of the same nature. The posterior extremity of the body is forked, and the anus is used by the animal as a means of progress· ion. It soon devours the legitimate owner of the shell, whence the generic appellation of CoonLEOOTONus, given to this Insect by the naturalist above mentioned. M. Desmarest pt·esuming that as these larvre were common in the neighbourhood of Geneva, they might also be found in the vicinity of Paris, by the. aid of his pupils (1) See Fabricius, and Olivier, Col. II, No. 28. COLEOPTERA. 357 8000 procured a number of th.c.m, which enabled him to give a com- Jete history of the Insect, and to ascertain that the individuals in ;heir perfect state, described by Mielzinsky, were the females of the Drile jaunatre or the Panache jaune, Geoff., I, .1, 2; pliv., Col. II, 23, 1, 1, the body of which is about thr~e lines long, black, with yellowish elytt·a. , The female is nearly thr·ice as large, is of an orange ot' reddish yellow, and resembles that of a Lampyris, but without its phosphot·escence. M. Audouin has published its anatomy, and observed that the exuvire of the larva exactly close the aperture of the shell, forming a sol't of operculum. · While the ani· mal is in its larva state, it remains at the bottom of its domicil, and 50 placed, that the posterior extremity of its body faces the opening; when it has passed into that of a pupa its position is inverted. For this observation we are indebted to M. Desmarest( 1 ): M. Dufour has also p~blishecl some anatomical observations on the male of this species. r A second, the D. ater, Dcj., all black, with the antennre less pectinated, is found in Germany. It is figured, as well as a third, the rujicollis, discovered by Count Dejean in Dalmatia, in a Memoir of M. Audouin-Ann. des Sc. Nat., Aout 1824- which, under the title of u Recherches anatomiques sur la femelle du Drile Jaunatre et sur le male de cette espece," forms a complete Monograph of the genus, enriched with excellent figure~. Both sexes of the remaining Lampyridcs of this second division ar\ winged, and their maxillary palpi are not much longer than those of the labium. They embrace a great part of the genus Cantharis, Lin., or that of Gicindela, Geoff. 'fELEPHoRus, Schreff.-Gantharis, Lin; The palpi terminated by a securiform joint; thorax destitute of lateral emarginations. They are carnivorous Insects and r~n over plants. Their stomach is long and transversely rugose; the intestine very short. T.fuscus; Cantharisfusca, L.; Oliv., Col. II, 26, i, i. From five to six lines in length, posterior part of the qead, ~ly~r~, pectus ' and the greater portion of the legs of a slate-black; the other parts yellowish-red; a black spot on the thot·ax. Is frequently met with in Europe during the spring. The larva is almost cylindrical, elongated1 soft, of a dead velvet-black, the antennre, palpi, and feet yellowish-rufous. The,head is squam- (1) See Ann. des Sc. Nat., Juillet et Aout 1824, and Bullet. de ]a Soc. Philom., Avril 1824. · • |