498 



THE- INSECT WORLD. 



together, and they have no wings. The vulgar regard them as ah 

 omen of ill-luck. Fig. 541 represents the B/a_ps obtusa. According 

 to the report of a traveller, the v/omen in Egypt eat the Blaps 

 sulcata cooked with butter, to make them fat. They are employed 

 also against the ear-ache, the bite of scorpions, &c. 



Another genus of the same familly is the Tenebrio (Fig. 542), of a 

 blackish-brown, with the elytra striated, and of half an inch in length. 



Fig- 537- — Manticora tuberculata. 



F'g- 538- — Pogonostoma gracilis. 



The larvae, the well-known meal-worms, live in flour; they are 

 cylindrical, and of a light tawny colour (Fig. 542). The insect which 

 is considered as a type of the tribe of the Pimdides is the Pimelia 

 bipimdata^ which is common in the south of France. 



We come now to the tribe of blistering beetles, of which the best 

 known is the Cantharides ( Cantharis or Lytta). These insects are 

 generally of soft consistency, and their elytra very flexible. A few 



