yoa BEETLES. 



Family XXIX. CLERID-ffi. 



Body generally cylindrical. Antennae either gradually 

 thickened, or with three enlarged terminal joints; eyes 

 •emarginate. The front coxse are prominent, and the posterior 

 ■ones are oblique. The tarsi are four- or five-jointed, with 

 .spongy soles, by means of which the beetles can hold very 

 tightly. They live on flowers and prey on other insects, and 

 .some of them enter bee-hives and kill the bees. 



Genus Tillus, Oliv. 

 Prosternum fused with its lateral appendages. The tarsi 

 "have five joints, and the first joint is visible from above. The 

 head is oval. The antennae are serrated from the third joint 

 to the end, and the second joint is small. The elytra are of 

 uniform width, or slightly expanded beyond the middle. The 

 beetle lives on flowers or freshly-hewn timber. 



* T. elongatus, Linn. (Plate XL, Pig. 26). This species is 

 "black and finely pubescent. The elytra are bluish-black, 

 punctate -striate. The pronotum is red in the female and 

 black in the male, which is the smaller sex. It is found on 

 •old oaks, beeches, willows, &c., but is not common. 



Genus Opilus, Latr. 

 This genus closely resembles the last, but the first joint 

 of the tarsi is hidden by the second, and is more or less 

 abbreviated. The eyes are large and prominent. The beetles 

 .are nocturnal in habits, and live in houses and in trees, where 

 the larvae prey on other insects. 



* 0. mollis, Latr. (Plate XL, Pig. 27). This species is dark 

 brown. The antennae, the legs (with the exception of the 

 middle of the femora), the tips of the elytra, and the 

 square spots on them, are pale yellow. The abdomen is 



