FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. 



Plate LXXXI. In the South it is called 



the Fig-eater. When flying, it is easily 



mistaken for a loudly buzzing bumble-bee. 



The head is deeply excavated, the front with a horizontal 



spine extending forward nearly to the upturned spine of the 



clypeus. The larvae feed upon the roots of grass and 



other plants, sometimes being decidedly injurious. 



The pronotum is triangular; scutellum 

 not covered; side pieces of the mesothorax 

 visible from above; elytra more or less wavy on the sides. 

 Comstock calls inda the Bumble Flower-beetle a name 

 which covers, its habits of humming, when flying, and of 

 feeding in flowers. However, the name might well be 

 applied to its relatives also. The adults often feed on 

 fruit and green corn. The elevation between the middle 

 coxae is transverse; head and pronotum dark, feebly 

 bronzed, the latter often with yellowish spots; elytra brown- 

 ish-yellow, mottled with black spots which often tend to 

 form cross-bands; pronotum woolly; length somewhat 

 over half an inch. E. julgidus is similar in size and form 

 but brilliant polished green in color. 



This genus differs from Euphoria in 

 us having the pronotum quadrate, with promi- 

 nent angles. The species are uniformly blackish and, 

 while not especially rare, they are not often seen, as they 

 live in and about the nests of ants. Our species are not 

 over .5 in. long. There are pubescent areas near the 

 angles of the pronotum which are glandular and furnish 

 agreeable food for ants. Sometimes even the angles are 

 gnawed off. The beetles are sluggish and "seem to be 

 held in captivity by the ants, which pull them back into 

 the vicinity of the nests whenever they attempt to escape." 

 However, it is probable that the advantages are not 

 entirely one-sided. 



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