COLEOPTERA. 455 



N. vespillo; Silpha vespillo, L. ; Oliv., Col. II, 10, i, 1. From 

 seven to eight lines in length ; black ; three last joints of the 

 antennae red ; elytra with two orange, transverse and indented 

 bands ; coxae of the two posterior legs armed with a strong tooth ; 

 the tibiae are curved. 



N. mortuorum, Fab.; Panz., Faun. Insect. Germ., XLI, 3. 

 Smaller; antennae entirely black; the second transverse orange 

 band of the elytra observed on the vespillo, usually forming a 

 large lunated spot. Found in woods, and frequently in mush- 

 rooms. 



N. germanicus, Fab. ; Oliv., Ib M 1, 2, a, b. More than an incli 

 long ; all black ; external margin of the elytra fulvous j a ferru- 

 gineous yellow spot on the front. 



N. humatorj Fab. Oliv., Ib. 1, 2, c. Always smaller than the 

 gernianicus, and differing from it in the orange hue of the an- 

 tennal club. 



North America produces several species, one particularly 

 N. grandis, Fab. that surpasses all others in size *. 

 This genus seems to be confined to the northern districts of Europe 

 and America. 



NECRODES, Wtik. SILPHA, Lin. Fab. 



The antennae manifestly longer than the head, and terminated by 

 an elongated club of five joints, the second of which is larger than 

 the third. The body is an oblong oval, with an almost orbicular 

 thorax, widest in the middle ; the tibiae are narrow, elongated, but 

 slightly widened at the end, and terminated by two ordinary spurs; 

 the elytra are obliquely truncated. 



Species of this subgenus are found in Europe, tropical Ame- 

 rica, the East Indies, and New Holland f. 



Sometimes the body is oval or ovoid ; the head not at all or but 

 very slightly strangulated posteriorly, and narrower than the thorax ; 

 the thorax either almost semicircular and truncated, or trapezoidal 

 and wider behind ; the elytra rounded or simply emarginated at the 

 posterior extremity. There is but little or no difference in the pos- 

 terior legs of the two sexes. 



The maxillae are armed internally with a tooth or squamous hook. 



SILPHA, Lin. Fab. PELTIS, Geoff. 



The body almost scutiform and depressed, or but slightty elevated; 

 thorax semicircular, truncated or very obtuse before ; exterior mar- 

 gin of the elytra strongly m-urvrd and canaliculated ; palpi filiform, 

 their last joint almost cylindrical, nml, in several, terminating* in a 

 point. Most of them live in carrion, and thus diminish UK- quantity 

 of its noxious effluvia. Some climb on plants, and particularly on 



For the other species, see Fab., Oliv., and Schoenherr, I, ii, p. 117. 

 f Silpha littoralis, Fab., Olir., Col., 11,1, 8, a, b, c; 5. rarfaammu, Fab.,Olhr., 

 Ib., II; S. lachrymosa, Schrelb., Lin. Trans., VI, M, 5; 5. fitcNfti, Fab., &c. 



