ELATER. Click-beetle, Spring-beetle. EU terides. This beetle, from its habit of suddenly springing in the air, and landing on its feet when placed on its back, is well known, especially among children. The larvw are all destructive from their habit of feeding on the roots of vege tation, and should be destroyed. It is supposed by some, that the Wire worm is the larva of this beetle. Such is not the fact. They are the larvae of' a species of /vim belonging to the Iltyriapoda, so named from their great num ber of feet. The Wire worm of England, has only six feet, nevertheless we have severai grubs allied to them, but which are not com mon. The following is from a report of the late Dr. Le Baron, Entomologist of Illinois Our largest and most striking species is the well known Elater (Alaus) occulatus, of Linnaeus. It is usually nearly an inch and a-half in length, though individuals are not unfrequently seen which scarcely exceed an inch. Its gray color is produced by a dense sprinkling of small whit ish spots and lines upon a black ground. These spots are composed of minute whitish scale-like hairs. But its most conspicuous character is the two large eye-like spots on the top of the thorax, which are expressed by the specific name. The larvw inhabit partially decayed wood, and are often found in the trunks of old apple trees. The Mater rubricollis, Say, is a little more than half an inch long, black, with a light-red thorax, bor dered and pointed behind with black. The Ela ter sangminipennis, Say, is black, with light-red elytra; three-tenths of an inch in length. The E. apicatus, Say, is similar, but larger, being nearly half an inch in length, and the elytra are tipt with black. The K nigricollis, Say, varies from less than half to three-quarters of an inch in length; black, with whitish elytra. The E.
linteus, Say, resembles the last, but is distin guished by having the suture and tip of the ely tra black. E. scapula?* Say, is a little less than four-tenths of an inch long, greenish-black, with the base of the elytra and the hind points of the thorax, clay-yellow. The tarsal joints are lobed beneath. It is now included in the genus Athous. The Limonitts armus, Say, is also light-red on the shoulders of the elytra, but the thorax is wholly -black, the tarsi are simple, and the length is only n quarter of an inch. Several species of Coryla .betes have the elytra brownish-yellow with trans verse zigzag black bands. C. hieroglyphicus, 'Say, half an inch long, has two bands; and C. hainatus, rather smaller, has but one band near the tip. The Melanotusfissilis. Say, (cinereue, Weber?) and the X. communis, Sch., plain brown species, usually about half an inch in length, but subject to considerable variation iu size, are amongst our most common beetles. The two species closely re seinble each other, but the latter is a little smaller, and the thorax is proportionally longer and less convex. The ilelanactes piceus, Deer-, is a large glosSy black species, an inch or more in length. It is not uncommon in the latitude of Southern Illi nois, where it is sometimes jarred frorn peach trees upon the curculio-catcher. Riley has found and figured its supposed larva, which is one of the -most beautiful objects, and often attracts the at tention of the curious in the regions where it is found, south of latitude 39°, by its luminosity; the animal glowing in the dark with a beautiful green light.
ELATERIEllt. ..Wowrdica eleterium. indig •enous annual vine, bearing a small fruit like the cucumber, the juice of which is a drastic _purge.