COLEOPTERA. 53 l 



her eggs upon it. The larvae that hatch from these eggs 

 feed upon the food thus provided for them. There are 

 many accounts of exhibitions of remarkable strength and 

 sagacity by burying-beetles. A pair of these insects have 

 been known to roll a large dead rat several feet in order to 

 get it upon a suitable spot for burying. 



The members of the genus Silpha are very much flat 

 tened (Fig. 639). The prothorax is round in 

 outline, with very thin edges which overlap the 

 wing-covers somewhat. The body is not nearly 

 as stout as that of a burying-beetle, being fitted 

 for creeping under dead animals instead of for 

 performing deeds requiring great strength. FlG - 6 39- 



In some of the minute members of the family the body 

 is nearly hemispherical. 



The family SCYDMyENID^E (Scyd-maen'i-dae) includes 

 very small insects found under bark or stones, in ants' nests, 

 or near water. They are small, shining, usually ovate, but 

 sometimes slender insects, of a brown color, and more or 



a 



less clothed with erect hairs. Other characters are given in 

 the preceding table of families. Nearly fifty North American 

 species are known. 



The family PSELAPHID^E (Pse-laph'i-dae) includes certain 

 very small beetles, the larger ones not exceeding one eighth 

 inch in length. They resemble rove-beetles in the shortness 

 of the wing-covers and in having the dorsal part of the 

 abdominal segments entirely horny; but they differ from 

 them in that the abdomen is not flexible, and in having 

 fewer abdominal segments, there being only five or six on 

 the ventral side. The species are of a chestnut-brown color 

 and usually slightly pubescent. The elytra and abdomen 

 are convex and usually wider than the head and prothorax. 

 These beetles are found under stones and bark, or in ants- 

 nests, or flying in the twilight. Nearly one hundred and 

 fifty species are known from North America. 



