POLYMORPHA DERMESTIDAE 



241 



the life -history of these small Insects. They are of some 

 interest, as this structure of the foot 

 is not found in any other beetles. 



Fam. 43. Dermestidae. Tarsi 

 jive-jointed; antennae usually short, 

 with the club frequently very large 

 in proportion, and with the. under 

 side of the thorax hearing a. hollow 

 for its reception. Front coxae rather 

 long, oblique: hind coxa formed to 

 receive the femur when in repose. 

 A family of 300 or 400 species of 

 small or moderate-sized beetles ; the FlG - 121. Adimerus setosvs. Adi- 



,, 1-1 meridae. A, the Insect ; B, one 



SUrlace, usually Covered With hlie foot more enlarged. Mexico. From 



hair, forming a pattern, or with BioL Centr - Amer - CoL ij - P*- * 

 scales. By turns, the position of which has long been disputed, 

 has now been placed in this family ; it has a more imperfectly 

 formed prosternum, and the third and fourth joints of the tarsi 

 are prolonged as membranous lobes beneath ; the hind coxae leave 

 the femora quite free. Dermestidae in the larval state nearly all 

 live on dried animal matter, and are sometimes very destructive ; 

 some of them totally destroy zoological collections. They are 



very remarkable on account of the complex 

 clothing of hairs they bear ; they have good 

 powers of locomotion, and many of them 

 have a peculiar gait, running for a short 

 distance, then stopping and vibrating some 

 of their hairs with extreme rapidity. They 

 exhibit great variety of form. Many of 

 them are capable of supporting life for long 

 periods on little or no food, and in such 

 cases moult an increased number of times : 

 pupation takes place in the larval skin. 

 Anthrenus fasciatus has been reared in large 

 numbers on a diet of dried horse-hair in 

 furniture. The young larva of this species 

 observed by the writer did not possess 

 the remarkable, complex arrangement of hairs that appeared 

 when it was further grown. The most curious of Dermestid 

 larvae is that of Tiresias serra, which lives amongst cobwebs in 



VOL. VI R 



FIG. 122. Tiresias serra 

 Larva. New Forest. 



