510 AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY 



wing-covers. M. heros (Fig. 608) is 16 mm. or more in length. 

 M. Jascidta is about 12 mm. in length. 



The genus Languria includes long, narrow species, which resemble 

 click-beetles in form. Figure 609 represents Languria niozdrdu. 

 greatly enlarged. This is a reddish species with dark blue wing- 

 covers; the larva bores in the stalks of clover. It has not become 

 a serious pest as the larvae are destroyed whenever clover is cut at 

 the proper time. 



The larvae of some species of this family feed on fungi. 



The familyDERODONTID^E includes only five American species, 

 two found in the East and three in the Far West. They are 

 small brown or dull brownish yellow beetles, having the head deeply 

 impressed, with a small, smooth tubercle on each side inside the 

 eye. These beetles are found on fungi. 



The family CRYPTOPHAGID.E includes insects of small size, 

 usually less than 2.5 mm. in length, and of variable form but never 

 very flat. The thorax is nearly or quite as wide as the wing-covers, 

 and the first ventral abdominal segment is somewhat longer than 

 the others. They are generally of a light yellowish brown color, 

 and live on fungi and decomposing vegetable matter. 



The family BYTURID^ includes only the genus Byturus, of 

 which there are five species in our fauna. This genus was formerly 

 included in the Dermestidse, but it differs from that family in having 

 the second and third segments of the tarsi lobed beneath, the front 

 coxal cavities closed behind, and the tarsal claws armed with a large 

 basal tooth. The following is a well-known species. 



The raspberry fruit-worm, Bytiirus unlcolor. — The fruit of the red 

 raspberr>^ is often infested by a small white worm, which clings to 

 the inside of the berry after it is picked. This is the larva 

 of an oval, pale, dull yellow beetle, which is densely 

 clothed with short, fine, gray hairs. The beetle is repre- 

 sented enlarged in Figure 610; it measures from 3.7 to 

 4.5 mm. in length. This insect is also injurious in the 

 adult state, as it feeds on the buds and tender leaves of the 

 raspberry and later attacks the blossoms. Fig. 610. 



The family MYCETOPHAGID^, or the hairy 

 fungus-beetles, is composed of small, oval, rarely elongate, moderately 

 convex beetles. They are densely punctured and hairy, and are 

 usually prettily marked insects. They live on fungi and under bark. 

 There are about thirty species in our fauna. 



The familv COLYDIID^ is composed of small insects which are 

 usually of an elongate or cylindrical form, and are found under bark, 

 in fungi, and in earth. Some of the species are known to be carniv- 

 orous, feeding on the larvas of wood-boring beetles. The tarsi are 

 four-jointed; the tibiae are not fitted for digging, and the first four 

 abdominal segments are grown together on the ventral side. More 

 than eighty North American species are known. 



