﻿THE NECROPHAGA^ OR CLAVICORNES. 99 



ring in houses; and the other rests on very slender 

 grounds. 



The NiTiDULiDEs have the pygidium (or apical seg- 

 ment) alone exposed, and that sometimes only in part ; 

 a single lobe to the maxillse ; and the base of the elytra 

 not covered by the thorax. The genera from Epuraa 

 to Omosita (inclusive) have no elongation of the proster- 

 num between the anterior coxse, which prolongation is 

 found in the remainder of this sub-family ; the furrows 

 for reception of the antennae are also different in certain 

 of the genera. The species of Epurcea, mostly yellowish 

 in colour, chiefly frequent flowers and the exuding sap 

 of trees, and also live under bark : whilst the Meligethes 

 are exclusively to be found in flowers. The latter are 

 very puzzling to determine, owing to their uniformity 

 of size and build, and want of difference of colour and 

 sculpture; they may, however, be separated by the varia- 

 tion in pattern and degree of the toothing on the outer 

 edge of the front tibiae, especially near the apex. Soronia 

 punctatissima (Plate VI, Fig. 5) is found in and about the 

 burrows of the larva of the goat-moth in willow-trees, 

 feeding on the frass and exuding sap caused by the 

 ravages of the latter in the solid wood. The larva of 

 S. grisea, a commoner willow-bark species, is dirty white, 

 nearly oval, narrowed behind and rather flat, with a 

 small horny head, bearing three simple eyes on each 

 side, two large horny prothoracic plates, and a transverse 

 row of small plates on each of the remaining segments, 

 which have also a lateral projection terminating in a 

 bristle ; the last segment has two pairs of horny hooks 

 on the upper side, and a cylindrical anal tube. 



The (British) Cychramides have the prosternal elon- 

 gation very short, the prothorax covering the base of the 



