112 BEETLES. 



Genus Ptinus, Linn. 

 Body short, oval. Antennae with eleven joints, long and 

 filiform, situated between the eyes. The legs are slender at the 

 base, but club-shaped near the knee. The tarsi are five-jointed, 

 with the third and fourth joints simple. The beetles live in 

 dry wood and vegetable substances, some of them in houses, 

 and are very destructive to natural history specimens. 



* P./uTy Linn. (Plate XIL, Fig. 2). Male nearly cylindrical, 

 red, reddish-brown, or pitchy-brown, and pubescent. The head 

 is covered with white hair. The female is much larger than the 

 male, and elongated oval. The pronotum is covered with large 

 yellow tufts of hair, coalescing behind. It is common and 

 destructive in houses, where it frequents the larder; and in 

 drug-stores, on the dried portions of plants, and particularly 

 seeds. It also frequently attacks collections of insects and plants. 



* P. {Niptus) hololeucus, Palderm. (Plate XIL, Pig. 3). Globu- 

 lar, completely clothed with thick, golden-yellow pubescence. 

 This little beetle was originally a native of Asia Minor, but 

 has been gradually introduced with merchandise, and is now 

 sometimes destructive to wool, drugs, and other dry materials. 



Genus Gibbium, Scop. 

 Body small, humped, and wingless. Elytra grown together 

 at the suture, and raised into a bladder-like translucent ball. 

 The antennoe are eleven-jointed, filiform, and nearly as long as 

 the body. The third and fourth joints of the tarsi are simple. 

 It is found on animal products. 



* G. scotias, Pabr. (Plate XIL, Fig. 4). Chestnut-brown, 

 glassy, shining, and translucent. Pronotum very short. 

 Antennce and legs clothed with shining yellow pubescence. 

 Length, 3 mm. It is occasionally found in woollen stuffs, 

 and especially in sheep's wool, but is rare. 



