greater want of evidence to support this opinion than in the preceding case. They differ so much in the form of the snout, and other circumstances, from the species just alluded to, that we are scarcely entitled to infer that what exists in the one is common also to the others. The Chinese F. candelaria is very abundant, and if it be really luminous, the phenomenon must have been often witnessed by European residents; yet all their accounts seem to refer to phosphorescent Lampyridæ and Elateridæ. It is to be wished that some competent observer would undertake to examine the matter, which, to those visiting the countries where the insects abound, will probably not be attended with much difficulty.[1]
The species referred to above as forming one of the figures on the adjoining plate, is a native of the New World, and found in tolerable plenty in Cayenne, Surinam, &c. The Indians call it Jacarenam boya, or the crocodile snake, and seem to suppose that it is venomous, and capable of inflicting wounds. It can fly swiftly, as might be inferred from the amplitude of its wings, and is most active in the twilight and evening. It is extremely well figured by Madam Merian, in her Insects of Surinam; and specimens are to be found in almost every cabinet of any extent in this country and on the Continent.
- ↑ In the 3d Vol. of Entom. Magazine, the reader will find collected all that is worth knowing on the luminosity of the Fulgoræ,—and something more.
