470 



COLEOPTERA. 



with small scales as in the genera alluded to." Cvpes cajiifafa 

 Fabr. is black witii the head red ; while Cirpes cinerea Sa}' is 

 pale gray, with darker lines. They are found under the bark 

 of decaying trees, and also occasionally in houses. (Leconte.) 



PtinidvE Leach. These are small beetles, often of an ob- 

 scure brown color, somewhat oval in shape, and truncated 

 behind ; the nine-jointed filiform antenna? are inserted on the 

 front, or sides of the front ; the head is retractile, frequently 



protected b}' the prothorax ; the 

 labrum is distinct ; the maxillae 

 have two ciliate lobes, and the 

 maxillary palpi are short and 

 four-jointed. The legs are slen- 

 der, contractile, and the insect 

 when disturbed draws them up 

 and feigns death. In Ptinus 

 the antenuie are inserted on the 

 front very close together, the 

 legs are long, not contractile, with large trochanters ; the teeth 

 of the mentuni are acute, and the labrum is rounded. The 

 males difl'er from the short and thickened females in being long 

 and narrow. The beetles are found about out-houses, the wood 

 of which they perforate in various directions. Pti7ius fur Linn. 

 (Fig. 439 ; a, larva), the most commonl}^ diffused 

 species, is known to attack museums and collec- 

 tions of insects. It is .15 of an inch in length, 

 and uniformly chestnut brown in color. The larva 

 here figured was found eating the dried contents 

 of a shell in the Museum of the Peabody 

 Academy of Science. 



SHodrepa pankea Fain-. (Fig. 440, pupa) is a 

 Fig. 440. gniall insect like Anobium, of a pale reddish 

 brown color, with much paler dense hairs. It is .13 of an inch 

 long. The larva resembles in its form that of Ptinus, but the 

 body is much thicker, not growing smaller toAvards the head 

 as in that genus ; the end of the body is smooth, obtusely 

 rounded, with fine hairs ; it is .08 of an inch long and un- 

 doubtedly grows larger. It occurred in all its stages and in 



