516 



INSECTA. 



Fig. 62. — Hitter nnicolor. 



Hololepta, Payk., has the body very much flattened; the pro-sternum is not advanced over the mouth, and the 

 four posterior tibiae have only a single row of spines. These insects are found beneath the bark of trees. The 

 larva figured by Paykull as that of one of these insects, belongs to the genus Syrphus or Musca. 



Hister is composed of species having the presternum advanced over the mouth, with the maxillae terminated by 

 a short lobe, and the palpi but little advanced ; some of which have only a single row of spines on the four hind 

 tibiae. These also live under the bark of trees, and compose Leach's genera Platysoma and Dendrop/tiliis ; the 

 first of which has the body flattened, II. picipes, Fabr. Those species which have two rows of spines on the four 

 hind tibiae compose Leach's restricted genus Hister. Ex., //. unicolor, Linn., one-third of an inch long; entirely 

 black and shining, and extremely common. M. Paykull has employed the num ber of teeth 

 in the tibiae, and of the striae and punctures of the thorax and elytra, as well as the form of 

 the body, to distinguish the species. 



A terminal division of this tribe comprises those Histeroides of very small size, having 

 a nearly globose thick body, with the presternum but slightly compressed at the sides ; 

 not advanced over the mouth, and straight in front. 



Abr<eus, Leach, has the presternum prolonged as far as the anterior angles of the thorax, 

 entirely concealing the antenna: when retracted. H. globosus, Payk. 



Onthophilus, Leach, has the presternum narrowed, and the club of the antennae lodged 

 in an orbicular cavity situated beneath the anterior angles of the thorax. H. stdcatus, Pk. 

 Ceulocerus, Germar, appears to approach Hister in the form of the antennae, feet, &c, 

 but the elytra entirely cover the abdomen, and the jaws are not exserted. 



[The monograph of the genus Hister, by Paykull, published at Upsal, 1811, and Sturm's Deutschlands Fauna, 

 contains descriptions and figures of a great number of species ; whilst Dr. Erichson has added considerably to 

 the number of generic groups in the tribe, in an admirable memoir published in Dr. Klug's Jahrbucher.j 



The other Clavicornes have the feet inserted at equal distances apart. Such of these insects as 

 have these organs not contractile, or with the tarsi merely folded upon the tibiae, the mandibles gene- 

 rally exposed and flattened, or hut little thickened, and the prosternum dilated in front, compose five 

 other tribes. 



The third tribe, Silphales, possesses five very distinct joints in all the tarsi, and the mandibles are 

 terminated in an entire point, without notch or slit. The antenna? are terminated generally in a per- 

 foliated club of four or five joints. The maxillae have generally a horny tooth on the inner edge ; the 

 anterior tarsi are often dilated, at least in the males ; the elytra of the greater number have a depressed 

 line along the outer edge, which is turned up. This tribe consists of the genus 



Silpha, Linn. (Pcltis, Geoffr.). 



Sphcerites, Dnftsch., Sarapus, Fisch.,has the antennae suddenly terminated in a short solid mass, formed of the 

 last four joints ; the second is larger than the following The body nearly square ; elytra truncate : tibiae dentate. 

 These insects so nearly resemble Hister, that Fabricius united them with that genus. Type, Hitter glabratus, Fabr. 

 [an insect of small size, lately detected in Scotland]. 



The rest have the antennae terminated in a perfoliated mass. 



Some of these have the body oblong, with the head narrowed into a neck behind the eyes ; as broad, or scarcely 

 narrower, than the front margin of the thorax ; the elytra are oblong ; truncate behind ; the hind thighs, at least 

 in the males, are generally thickened, and the anterior tarsi are dilated in the males. , 



Necrop/wriis, Fabr., has the antennae terminated by a nearly globular 4-jointed mass ; the body is parallelopiped, 

 and the maxillae want the horny tooth. The instinctive habits which these insects possess of burying small quad- 

 rupeds, has caused them to be named Sexton, or Burying Beetles. When a dead Mouse or Mole, &c. is observed, 

 these insects creep beneath it, dig away the earth until the hole is sufficiently deep to receive the animal, which 

 they pull in towards them, and in which they then deposit their eggs, the larvae feeding upon the carcase. These 

 larvae are long, of a greyish white, with the upper side of the anterior segments armed with a scaly plate of a 

 brown colour, and with small elevated points upon the posterior. They have six legs and strong mandibles. 

 Previous to assuming the pupa state they bury themselves deeply into the earth, where they construct a cell, 

 which they line with a glutinous secretion. These insects, like many others equally carnivorous, have a strong 

 smell of musk. It appears that their powers of scent must be very great, as in a very little time after a Mole 

 has been killed some of them are seen hovering over the body, although they had not been previously observed 

 in the vicinity. The digestive canal of the Necrophori and Silphae is at least three times as long as the body ; the 

 intestinal canal is very long. 



Necrophorus vespillo, Linn., is from two-thirds to seven-eighths of an inch 

 long; black, with the three terminal joints of the antennae red, and two orange- 

 coloured bands on the elytra : the coxae of the hind-legs armed with a strong 

 tooth. [There are several species closely allied to this insect, which is very 

 common in England ; and it is to be observed that they occasionally frequent 

 rotten fungus and boleti, as weis <ts animal matter in a decaying state.] Some of 

 the species from North America surpass the rest in size. 



Necrotics, Wilkin ; Silpha, Linn., has the antennae evidently longer than the 

 head, and terminated by an elongated 5-jointed mass; the body is oval oblong ; Fig. 63^-Necrophurus reapiS* 



