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STERNOXIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 672 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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STERNOXIA .—ThiS is an important tribe of beetles, including families with four malpighian tubes and only five or six abdominal sterna, while in the See also:

THORAX (Gr. BWpaE, breastplate, also the part of the body covered by it)

thorax there is a backwardly directed See also:

PROCESS

process of the prosternum that fits into a mesosternal cavity. The larvae are elongate and See also:

WORM

worm-like, with See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short legs but often with hard strong cuticle. The Elateridae or click beetles (fig. 18) have the prosternal process C just mentioned, capable of See also:

MOVEMENT

movement in and out of the mesosternal cavity, the beetles being thus enabled to leap into the See also:

air, hence their popular name of " click-beetles " or " skip-jacks.' 'The prothorax is See also:

CONVEX

convex in front, and is usually See also:

DRAWN

drawn out behind into a prominent process on either See also:

side, while the elytra are elongate and tapering. b c a Many of the tropical See also:

AMERICAN

American Elateridae emit See also:

LIGHT

light from the spots on the prothorax and an See also:

AREA

area beneath the See also:

BASE

base of the See also:

ABDOMEN (a Latin word, either from abdere, to hide, or from a form adipomen, from adeps, fat)

abdomen; these are " fireflies " (see above). The larvae of Elateridae are elongate, worm-like grubs, with narrow bodies, very See also:

FIRM

firm cuticle, short legs, and a distinct anal proleg. They are admirably adapted for moving through the See also:

SOIL

soil, where some of them live on decaying organic See also:

MATTER

matter, while others are predaceous. Several of the elaterid larvae, however, gnaw roots and are highly destructive to See also:

FARM

farm crops. These are the well-known' " See also:

WIRE (A.S. wir, a wire; cf. Swed. vire, to twist, M.H.G. wiere, a gold ornament, Lat. viriae, armlets, ultimately from the root wi, to twist, bind)

wire-See also:

WORMS

worms " (q.v.). The Buprestidae are distinguished from the Elateridae by the immobility of the prosternal process in the mesosternal cavity and by the See also:

ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence of the lateral processes at the See also:

HIND

hind corners of the prothorax. Many tropical Buprestidae are of large See also:

SIZE

size (fig. 19), and exhibit magnificent metallic See also:

COLOURS, MILITARY

colours; their elytra are used as ornaments in human See also:

DRESS (from the Fr. dresser, to set out, arrange, formed from Lat. directus, arranged, dirigere, to direct, arrange)

dress.

The larvae are remarkable for their small See also:

head, very broad thorax, with reduced legs, and narrow elongate abdomen. They feed by burrowing in the roots and stems of See also:

PLANTS

plants.

End of Article: STERNOXIA

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STESICHORUS (c. 640–555 B.C.)