THE INSECTS OF NEW JERSEY. 373 



Family PYROCHROID^E. 



Rather large, flattened beetles, bright blue, black or orange in contrast, 

 thorax narrower than the elytra, the latter rather soft in texture, widen- 

 ing posteriorly. The antennae are either serrate or, in the males, with 

 long comb-like processes. The beetles are usually rare, found about dead 

 or decaying trees, and in these live the larvae, which have a broad head, 

 stout legs and two spines on the last abdominal segment. None are of 

 economic importance. 



ISCHALIA Pasc. 



I. costata Lee. Woodbury XII, Merchantville (W) ; Lakehurst V (Jl) ; 

 in each case by sifting moss or old leaves in a swamp. 



PYROCHROA Geoff. 



P. flabellata Fab. Hopatcong (Pm) ; Greenwood Lake VI, Ft. Lee (Bt) ; 

 Caldwell (Cr) ; Orange Mts., g. d. (Bf) ; Sea Isle VII, 4 (Brn). 



P. femoralis Lee. Greenwood Lake, Ft. Lee (Bt) ; g. d., rare (W). 



DENDROIDES Latr. 



D. canadensis Latr. Hopatcong (Pm); Palisades VII, bred (Lv) ; Cald- 

 well (Cr) ; Orange Mts., West Bergen, under bark (Bf). 



D. concolor Newn. Snake Hill V (Wintersteiner). 



Family MELOID^. 



Contains the "oil beetles" and "blister beetles." They are soft in tex- 

 ture, usually slender and cylindrical, the thorax narrower than head or 

 elytra, the antennas sometimes curiously knotted or otherwise modified 

 in the male, the insects as a whole loose-jointed and sprawly in appear- 

 ance. They vary in color, are often striped and spotted, and sometimes 

 metallic. In the adult stage they feed on plant tissue and are sometimes 

 distinctly injurious. One of them, known as the "old-fashioned striped 

 potato beetle," frequently conies in late summer, sometimes with, some- 

 times replaced by an ally, and it or they sweep through a field or garden 

 before the grower realizes the nature of the attack. They attack not only 

 potatoes, but beets and a great variety of other plants and flowers, and 

 as a rule disappear almost as suddenly as they come. Some species re- 

 main for a day or two only; others stay for a week or two, and these, 

 when they attack cultivated plants, should be collected in kerosene pans 

 or driven by means of lime or other repellants, as may be indicated. 

 Arsenites kill them slowly and will not be effective until they have done 

 nearly or quite all the injury that they would have caused without treat- 

 ment. 



Curiously enough, quite a number of the species are markedly beneficial 

 in the larval stage, being among the most important checks to grass- 



