2 12 The Orders of Insects 



cavities of the front haunches are closed behind as in the Coccinel- 

 lid^. Like the last family the ErotylidEe are pre-eminently fungus 

 eaters. The larvje are hairy with short legs and stout cercopods 

 or anal spines. The species of this family are very numerous in 

 the tropics, more sparingly represented in cooler regions. 



Phalacridae. — The Phalacrida are a small family of beetles of 

 small size, and ovate or sub-globular form, shining and hairless. 

 The head is sunk beneatli the pronotum, the eyes being half hidden 

 and the feelers (eleven-segmented) arise below the edge of the face. 

 The pronotum has margined sides and is as broad as the elytra, 

 which entirely cover the hind-body. The legs are short and stout ; 

 the feet have five segments, and their claws are toothed at the base. 

 The family is widely distributed. 



Micropeplidae. — The MkropepUda comprise only two genera of 

 small beetles with short elytra, feelers concealed in cavities beneath 

 the thorax, having the three terminal segments which form the club 

 almost fused together, and very short three-segmented feet. They 

 are found in vegetable refuse and marshy places, and seem almost 

 confined to the Northern Hemisphere. 



Nitidulidse. — The Nitldullda are a large family of small beetles 

 which show great diversity in their form, some being long and 

 narrow, and others broadly ovate. The eleven-segmented feelers 

 arise beneath the edge of the face ; the three terminal segments form 

 a club, and in some cases the last segment is sunk into the tenth. 

 The feet usually have five segments, but in some genera the hind- 

 feet of the males have only four. The Nitidulid^ live in all kinds 

 of places — on flowers, in vegetable refuse, under bark, etc. Some 

 of the members of the family found in the last-named situation 

 prey on the grubs of wood-boring beetles. The family is uni- 

 versally distributed. 



Trogositidae. — The Trogositid<e are a small family of beetles 

 which have, like the Nitidulids, five-segmented feet, but the first 

 segment— not the fourth as in the preceding family — is very minute. 

 They live mostly under bark and are distributed in most parts of 

 the world. 



Colydiidae. — The ColydWda are a rather large family of small 

 beetles, living like the preceding, mostly under bark, with which 

 habit corresponds their elongate and cylindrical form. They may be 

 distinguished from the allied families by their feet with four segments. 

 The feelers are short and clubbed. The family is distributed in all 

 parts of the world, but is most abundantly represented in the tropics. 



Cucujidae.— The Cucujlda are a large family of beetles of oblong, 

 flattened form ; the eleven-segmented feelers, inserted on the edge 

 of the face, are sometimes slender and sometimes end in a feeble club. 

 The pronotum is often toothed at the sides. The feet have five 

 segments whereof the first is small ; occasionally the hind-foot has 

 only four segments in the male. The Cucujidz are abundant in 

 the tropics, but poorly represented in cooler regions. Most of the 



