POLVMORPHA DERMESTIDAE 



241 



A, the Insect ; B, one 

 foot more enlarged. iSIexieo. From 

 Biol. Centr. Amer. Cul. ii. pt. i. 



the life- history of these small Insects. They are of some 

 interest, as this structure of the foot 

 is not found in any other beetles. 



Fam. 43. Dermestidae.^ — Tarsi 

 Jirr-joiiitcd ; antennae usually short, 

 vltlb the cluh frequentli/ very lanje 

 in 'proportion, and unth the ■under 

 side of the thorax hearing a hollow 

 for its reception. Front coxae rather 

 lomj, ohlique : hind coxa formed to 

 receive the femur when in rep)ose. 

 A family of 300 or 400 species of 

 small or moderate-sized beetles ; the ^i«- '^'^l--A(iimerHs setosus. kA\- 



meridae. « ^"i^ iiK^nt • k inn- 



surface, usually covered with fine 

 hair, forming a pattern, or with 

 scales. Byturus, the position of which has long been disputed, 

 has now been placed in this fanuly ; it has a more imperfect!}' 

 formed prosternuni, and the third and fourth joints of the tarsi 

 are prolonged as membranous lobes beneath ; the hind coxae leave 

 the femora quite free. Dermestidae in the larval state nearly all 

 live on dried animal matter, and are sometimes very destructive ; 

 some of them totally destroy zoological collections. They are 

 very remarkable on account of the complex 

 clothing of hairs they bear ; they have good 

 powers of locomotion, and many of them 

 have a pecidiar gait, running for a short 

 distance, their stopping and vibrating some 

 of their hairs with extreme rapidity. They 

 exhibit great variety of form. Many of 

 them are capable of supporting life for long- 

 periods on little or no food, and in such 

 cases moult an increased number of times : 

 pupation takes place in the larval skin. 

 Anthrenus fasciatus has been reared in large 

 numbers on a diet of dried horse-hair in 

 fiu-nitm-e. The young larva of this species 

 observed by the writer did not possess 

 the remarkable, complex arrangement of hairs that appeared 

 when it was further grown. The most curious of Dermestid 

 larvae is that of Tiresias serra, which lives amongst cobwebs in 

 VOL. VI 11 



■Tiresias seiYu. 

 New Forest. 



