Coleoptera 



213 



species live under bark, but some are found commonly in stored 

 grain, liiie Silvunus surinamensis (fig. ny)- 



Lathridiidse. — The Lat/niJUJ^e are a large family of minute insects 

 of oval form, the pronotum being usually narrower than the 

 elytra. The mandibles are poorly developed ; the palps of the 

 first maxills have four segments, the last of which is large. The 

 front haunches are conical and their cavities are closed behind. 

 The feet are three-segmented, the third being long and having two 

 simple claws. The larvse are oval in form, soft-skinned, clothed 

 with thickset hairs, without cercopods, but with a tail-appendage 

 which serves as an additional foot. The beetles of this family live 

 in vegetable refuse, fungi, etc. They are world-wide in their range. 



Cryptophagidae. — Tiie Cryptophagida are another large family of 



Fig. 117.— a. Grain Beetle, Silvanvs surinamensis (Linn.), South 

 America, b. pupa; c. larva, magnified 12 times; d. feeler of 

 larva. From Chittenden, Bull. 4 (n.s.) Div. Ent. U.S. Dept. Agr. 



minute beetles distinguished from the Lathridiidse by their feet 

 which have five segments (in the males of some genera the hind- 

 feet have only four). From the Cucujids they may be separated 

 by the distinctly clubbed feelers. They are oblong, oval, or almost 

 circular in form ; the sides of the pronotum are margined or toothed, 

 and the upper surface is covered with short bristles or hairs. They 

 are found under bark, in plant stems, or in vegetable refuse, and 

 are distributed throughout the world, though most abundant in 

 cool and temperate regions. 



Mycetophagidae. — The Mycetophagida are small oval or oblong 

 beetles usually ornamented with red or orange spots, and covered 

 with short hairs on the upper surface. The feet all have four 



