Arcana Entomologica, Vol. 2 of 2

Download or read book Arcana Entomologica, Vol. 2 of 2 written by J. O. Westwood and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-21 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Arcana Entomologica, Vol. 2 of 2: Or Illustrations of New, Rare, and Interesting Insects They are slow and steady in their movements, and evidently of great rarity. I have received statements of similar habits exhibited by several other Indian and Javanese species; and Mr. Westermann states that the eight species of the family captured by him, were all taken accidentally in houses by night, flying about wood, whence he conceives them to be nocturnal and xylophagous. (Silbermann, Rev. Ent. No. 3.) A species of Paussns was received by M. Dupont from Senegal, with the statement that it had been observed to crepitate like the Bombardier beetles; and M. Payen informed M. Lacordaire that the species which he had detected in the Moluccas and isles of Sunda, possess the same power. (Lacord. Introd. ii., p. 57.) M. Verreanx at the Cape of Good Hope, and Mr. George MacLeay in Now Holland, have detected species of Paussidce in ants' nests: the latter having also observed that the species of Cerapterus captured by him crepitates. A new species of this genus has recently been received by Mr. Hope from Port Philip, with the observation that it had been found under dried cow-dung as well as under the loose bark of trees. Afzelius also states that in looking at one of his specimens of Paussus sphfcrocerus (remarkable for the globular, glossy, and pale-colourcd club of its antennae) in the evening, and happening to stand between the light and the box in which it was enclosed, so that his shadow fell upon the insect, he observed, to his great astonishment, the globes of the antennae, like two lanthorns, spreading a dim phosphoric light. He adds, however, that he was "prevented from ascertaining the fact by reiterated experiments," as his specimen died. May not the reflected light falling upon the semipellucid livid-coloured balls of the antennae give them the described appearance ? Or, may it not be accounted for precisely in the same manner as the light emitted by the shining moss mentioned in Loudon's " Magazine of Natural History," (No. xv. p. 463, ) by the late Mr. Bowman ? In their geographical distribution the insects of this family, hitherto known, are natives of the old world, if we except the species represented in plate 50, f. 2, which Mr. Miers has brought from Brazil. The others arc from tropical and southern Africa, India, the islands of the Indian Ocean, and New South Wales; and one from tho Balkan Mountains in Turkey. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.