﻿THE HETEROMERA. 1G5 



been joined to the Salpingidce in order to form another 

 family, of which it is considered the type. In Pyrocliroa 

 the head is very suddenly contracted into a neck, the 

 antennae are pectinate, the mentum is pedunculated, and 

 the anterior coxse are elongate, subcylindrical, and very 

 projecting; whilst in Pytho the head is not contracted 

 behind, the antennae are filiform, the mentum is not 

 pedunculated, and the anterior coxse are globose-ovate, 

 and but slightly projecting. 



The species of Pyrochroa, commonly known as " Car- 

 dinal beetles," are bright scarlet or brickdust-red in 

 colour, moderately large, with acutely bifid mandibles, 

 elytra not covering the sides of the abdomen, and long 

 legs. They are very active and rapacious ; flying readily 

 and strongly in the hot sunshine, and often simulating 

 death when captured. The largest, P. coccinea, is dis- 

 tinguished by its black head ; it is not uncommon in 

 woods in the south. I have found it, in all its stages, 

 in great numbers under the bark of a felled tree at Da- 

 renth, in Kent. 



Pytho depressus, hitherto found only in Perthshire 

 under fir-bark (where I have taken the larva, which has 

 two strong hook-like projections on the upper side of the 

 last segment) is very depressed, metallic, usually blue or 

 green, but sometimes nearly testaceous, and with two 

 strong depressions on its thorax. Both the perfect in- 

 sect and larva are carnivorous, feeding upon other sub- 

 cortical species. 



The Anthicid^ present a certain external resemblance 

 to some of the smaller Geodephaga : they are delicately 

 built, of slender shape; with thin legs and antennae, the 

 penultimate joint of the tarsi bi-lobed, the head sud- 

 denly contracted into a narrow neck, the eyes entire. 



