FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. 



ous short white hairs. It feeds in the cup of the berries. 

 Pupation and hibernation occur in an earthen cell just 

 beneath the surface of the ground. 



HISTERID^: 



It has been suggested that Linnaeus, in naming the type 

 genus of this family Hister, had in mind a filthy Mr. Hister 

 of Juvenal's Satires. I have not looked up the original 

 but, if the Roman was very bad, the name is not appropri- 

 ate for all the Histeridae, as some of them live in a fairly 

 cleanly manner under bark and in ants' nests. Even 

 those which take to carrion and excrement probably do 

 not eat it but feed on the other more Hister-like insects. 

 They are "small, usually black, shining beetles having 

 the elytra truncate behind, leaving tw T o segments of the 

 abdomen uncovered. In form they are variable, either 

 oblong and flat or, more usually, round, oval, globose, or 

 cylindrical. All are very compact, have a very hard 

 surface, and the elytra are usually marked with a number 

 of striae." The antennas are elbowed and have a short 

 compact club. 



NITIDULID^E 



Some adults are much like the Histeridae in form but 

 the antennas are straight; others suggest Staphylinidae ; 

 and, all in all, it is difficult to tell them "at a glance." In 

 most species the pronotum has wide, thin sides. Some 

 feed on fungi or carrion, others are found chiefly in flowers, 

 but the majority feed on the sap of trees and juices of 

 fruits. Dury tells of trapping hundreds of specimens by 

 laying chips on top of a freshly cut maple stump. They 

 are also attracted to a mixture of vinegar and molasses. 

 Some of the species are prettily marked with yellow or 

 red. The genus Ips is often common under fallen, decay- 

 ing fruit as well as about flowing sap. 7. obtusus is .3 in., 

 or more, in length and /. quadriguttatus is less than .3 in. 

 long; both are black with two reddish-yellow (obtusus) 

 or yellow (quadriguttatus) spots on each elytron. 7. 

 sanguinolentus is less than .25 in. long; head and thorax 



304 



