PARASITIC-BEETLES. Ill 



of tlie second dh-isiou are so intimately connected l)y intermediate 

 f;ra(l('s, tliat Laconlaiie and other recent antliors liave united a lar<jo 

 ])roi)ortion of them in one hir^e family under the name of I'envhrionldd'. 

 In accordance with our ]dan of clfissifyinp: insects as nearly as possi- 

 l»le accoi'dinii'to their liahits and the nature of tlicir food, we will divide 

 the lleteroniera into four tribes, as follows : 



A. Head as wide as the thorax, and attached to it l)y a visible neck. 

 Dody rather soft and elytra llexible; anterior coxa' large, eoni- 

 cal and contij^^uous; colors often diversified. Larva' mostly car- 

 nivorous and many of them i)arasitic : 



Tribe 1st (or liith), J'anisidc beetles. 



A A. Head witliout a distinct neck, narrower than the the thorax, and 

 more or less inserted in it ; body firm ; coxa? never very prom- 

 inent ; colors usually black or brown ; habits never carnivorous. 

 B. Anterioi' coxa' moderately prominent and nearly or quite contig- 

 uous; anteinuc slender and filiform ; color usually brown, some- 

 times black. Larvae live under bark of decaved trees : 



Tribe 2d (or i;kli.) BarJ: berth's. 



B r>. Anterior coxa? small, depressed and separate ; antenuai usually 

 moniliforin, or sub-clavate and perfoliate. 

 C. Antenna' usually more or less moniliform, and olten a little 

 thickened towards the tip, and as long as the head and tho- 

 rax. Color almost always black ; habits terrestrial : 



Tribe 3d (or 14th.) JLeteromerous gnnind-beetU's. 



C V. Antenna? usually shorter than the head and thorax, and 



strongly clavate and peifoliate ; head of males often Avith 



two horns. Colors brown or dark metallic, sometimes 



black with red spots. Habits fungi vorous : 



Tribe 4th (or 5th.) Meteromerovs funffus lnrtlts. 



TltTliF, XII. 



PATIASITIC-P.EETLKS. 



Heteromera parasitica. Trachelides, Latreille. 



The name Tracheliflca^ from a Creek word meaning « 7irc/.', was given 

 to these insects by Latreille to express their most striking character, 

 that of having the head attached to the thorax by a visible neck ; where- 

 as in most beetles the head is inserted in the thorax nearly or (juite to 

 the eyes. The exceptions to this rule, however, in the Coleojiterons 

 order, are not very uncommon, of which the families of TeleplH)rida?, 

 Lepturida', and portions of the Carabldie, are some of the most conspic- 

 uous examples. Hut the name was intended to contrast them more par- 

 ticularly with the other beetles of the heteromerous section. 



