456 INSECTA. 



the stems of Wheat, where they find little Helices, on which they 

 feed. Others remain on high trees and devour caterpillars. The 

 larvae are all equally active, live in the same manner, and frequently 

 in large societies. ' They bear a great resemblance to the perfect In- 

 sect. Their body is flattened, and consists of twelve segments, with 

 acute posterior angles ; the posterior extremity is narrower and ter- 

 minated by two conical appendages. 



In most of the species, the two anterior tarsi of the males are alone 

 more dilated than the others. The antennae insensibly enlarge or 

 terminate abruptly in a club of four joints at most, the second and 

 third of which differ but little ; the last joint of the maxillary palpi 

 is, at most, as long as the penultimate, and frequently somewhat 

 shorter and more slender. 



Those species in which the extremity of the antennae is distinctly 

 perfoliaceous or composed of joints, which, the last excepted, are 

 wider than they are long, where this club is abrupt, and the elytra are 

 emarginated at their extremity, at least in the males, form the genus 

 THANATOPHILUS, Leach*. 



Those, in which the elytra are entire, but where the antennae are 

 similar to those of the preceding, constitute his OICEPTOMA. 



S. thoracica, L.; Fab.; Oliv., Col. II, 11, i, 3, a, b. Black; 

 thorax red and silky ; three flexuous elevated lines on each ely- 

 tron, the exterior shortest, forming a carina, and terminating 

 near a transverse tubercle ; posterior extremity of the elytra, in 

 the males, terminating in a point at the suture. In the woods 

 particularly. 



S. quadripunctata, L, ; Fab. ; Oliv., Ib. I, 7, a, b. Black ; 

 margin of the thorax and elytra yellowish, each of the latter 

 with two black dots, one at base and the other in the middle. 

 Peculiar to forests, but usually remains on young Oaks, where it 

 feeds on caterpillars f . 



Those in which the extremity of the antennae is likewise perfo- 

 liaceous, but where the club is formed gradually, according to Leach, 

 alone retain the generic appellation of Silpha. They are usually 

 found in fields, along the roads, &c. 



S. Icevigata, Fab. ; Oliv., Ib. I, i, a, b. Shining black ; mul- 

 tipunctured ; thorax much narrower than before ; elytra with- 

 out elevated lines. 



S. obscura, L. ; Fab. ; Oliv., Ib., II, 18. Dusky black ; tho- 

 rax truncated anteriorly ; elytra more deeply punctured ; three 

 raised but slightly salient and short lines, the intermediate the 

 longest, on each of the latter. 



S. reticulata, L. ; Panz., Faun. Insect. Germ., V, 9. Opaque 

 black ; thorax truncated before ; three raised lines on each ely- 

 tron, the exterior largest and forming a carina, terminated by a 

 tubercle, with transverse rugae in the intervals {. 



* Silpha sinuata, Fab.; Oliv., Ib., II, 12; S.dispar, Illig., Gyllenh., &c. 



f Add, S. ntgosa, Fab. ; Oliv., II, Ib., 17 ; S, laponica, Fab. 



t Add, S. opaca, Fab.; Herbst., Col., LI, 16; S. tristis, Illig., &c. 



