LIBRARY

COLEOPTERA 665
tralia, which is 50 mm. in length, and the African Tetralobus flabelUcorm's
(Linn.), up to 65 mm. in length. The adults are to be found on the ground, in
decayed wood, and resting on plants of all kinds. Certain species visit flowers
and a number do considerable damage by eating the buds of deciduous fruit
trees and shrubs in the early spring.
The larvre of many species live in dead wood and under debris but by far
the greater number are subterranean and feed upon seeds and plants in and
on the surface of the soil. The hairy Iarvre of the giant African skipjack,
TetrakJbus flabellicornis (Linn.), live in the nests of termites. The larvre are
often present in great numbers and are among the most injurious pests to truck,
FIG. 185. A fire beetle, PY1oPho1US pellucens Eschscholtz, one of the remarkable luminous
elaterids of tropical North and South America. It is a beautiful metallic green with yellow
protiloracic luminous spots.
cereal, and forage crops throughout the world. Those of some members are
carnivorous. The eggs are laid on rotten wood, in debris, and on or in the soU.
The larvre reach full development in from 2 to 5 years.
The family is a large and varied one, consisting of upwards to 8,000 species,
and is well represented in all parts of the world.
The most remarkable members are the fire beetles belonging to the genus
Pyrophorus Illiger of tropical North and South America which contains 112 species.
The best known species, the cucubano, P. luminosa I11iger, of the West
Indies, is 25 or more mm. long and emits a brilliant greenish light from a pale
spot on either side of the base of the pronotum and a reddish light from the
venter of the abdomen. Other species, particularly the cucujo, P. noctilucus
(Linn.) and P. phosphorescens Castlenau, are similarly luminous. So remarkable
is the appearance of the swarms of these beetles that they have been discussed
at great length by nearly all early travelers and conquerors in these
regions. Wolcott (1933) states that the larvre of the former are also luminous