286 TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 



soil. They have different methods of \\i^\ and the larvse and 

 beetles differ in their habits. Some seek out and live in putre- 

 fying bodies ; others exist in living creatures ; and a few feed upon 

 vegetable matters. This genus of beetles presents us -with a 



THE METAMORPHOSES OF Silpha quadripimctata. 



remarkable example of the existence of very different conditions 

 of life in closely allied species. 



The larvae of the carrion beetles are well advanced in de- 

 velopment, and approach the adults in the perfection of their 

 structures. They are very flat, and all the segments of the thorax 

 and of the abdomen are covered with a hard integument They 

 have six eyes on each side of the head, and long and strong legs, 

 which are furnished with spines, and they move with great ra- 



