THE PIMELIAS. 189 



them are six rows of large, sharply-pointed spikes, those next 

 the suture being the longest. It is in consequence of this struc- 

 ture that the insect has received the specific name of echidna, 

 the spikes having some analogy with those of the well-known 

 Echidna or Porcupine Ant-eater of the same country. Below, 

 the insect is dull black. 



The generic name Helmus (which ought properly to have been 

 written Helaios) signifies " an olive." I know not why it should 

 have been given to these Beetles. The olive does not grow in 

 Australia, and so the name could not have been given because 

 the olive supplies food for the insect in any of its stages. And 

 neither in form nor colour do the Helsei bear the least resem- 

 blance to olives. The specific name inrforatus refers of course 

 to the aperture in the thorax, but it would have been equally 

 applicable to all the species, as in all the true Helsei the 

 flattened horns of the thorax are curved over each other in a 

 very similar fashion. 



The reader may remember that a reference was lately made 

 to the great and unwieldy genus Pimelia, which has since been 

 broken up, not only into genera, but even into families. Tlie 

 typical family is the Pimelidae, of which the Beetle which is 

 called Prionothcca coronata is a characteristic example. ISTone 

 of the Pimelidae possess wings, and the elytra are soldered 

 together, as is often the case with wingless Beetles. Eespecting 

 this family, Mr. Westwood has the following observations : — 

 " But few of this extensive family of Beetles are found in this 

 country; they are most abundant in Southern and Eastern 

 Europe, and in the deserts of Africa. But little is knowm of 

 their habits ; they shun the light, and reside in salt or sandy 

 situations, many frequenting the shores of the sea, particularly 

 the Mediterranean. 



" Their colours are black and obscure ; they are uncommonly 

 sluggish, and on being alarmed they emit a disagreeably fetid 

 fluid, which in some species produces a coating of a whitish 

 colour upon their bodies when dried. . . . The Pimelia hijniiic- 

 tata, observed by Latreille, inhabits the sandy shores of the 

 Mediterranean, concealing itself in holes which it excavates 

 with its legs. . . . Some few of the genera have only ten dis- 

 tinct joints in the antenna?." 



