COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS BANKS. 



19 



beetles (Coccinellidse) (fig. 34) which are very beneficial to mankind, 

 since both beetles and larvae destroy countless thousands of aphides and 



fa=*=^i&> 



Fig. 34. —A ladybird, Megilla maculata: o, Larva; 6, pupa; 



C, BEETLE. 



Fig. 35. \ rove- 

 beetle, Philonthus. 



h 





.7 



Fig. 36.— A soldier-beetle, Chauliognathus 



PENNSYLVANICUS: 0, Larva; b-ll, PARTS OB 

 LARVA enlarged; i, beetle. 



scale insects. One of these, the famous Vedalia ladybird, destroyed the 

 Icerya scale insect that was ruining the orange orchards of California. 



An immense family, the rove- 

 beetles (fig. 35) (family Staphy- 

 linida?), have long slender bodies, 

 and the elytra are very short, 

 not half covering the abdomen. 

 The carrion-beetles (Silphidas) (fig. 

 130) are common around dead 

 animals; they are mostly broad 

 and flat. Some species (family 

 Hydrophilidse) are aquatic, like the dytiscids of the previous section. 

 The Serricornia includes a few families of beetles (fig. 36) in which 



the antennas are not en- 

 larged at tip but are ser- 

 rate or saw-like beneath. 

 The body is often elon- 

 gate, with subparallel 

 sides. The head is small, 

 but distinct from above. 

 The legs are quite slender, 

 and the tarsi five-jointed. 

 The adults are often 

 found on flowers or on 

 leaves, but do not eat 

 much. Some of them 

 called click-beetles (fig. 37) (Slateridse), since when laid 

 upon their back they can spring into the air accompanied by a 

 clicking noise. This section also includes the fireflies (family Lam- 

 pyrida?), whose intermittent light on a summer evening is familiar 

 88552— Bull. 67-09 3 



FlG.37.— ACLICK-BEETLE.ilONOCREProrUSVESPERTINTJS: a, LAR- 

 VA FROM SIDE; b, LARVA FROM ABOVE; C, BEETLE; (/, PUPA. 



are 



