THE INSECTS OF NEW JERSEY. 
373 
Family PYROCHROID 7 E. 
Rather large, flattened beetles, bright blue, black or orange in contrast, 
thorax narrower than the elytra, the latter rather soft in texture, widen¬ 
ing posteriorly. The antennae are either serrate or, in the males, with 
long comb-like processes. The beetles are usually rare, found about dead 
or decaying trees, and in these live the larvae, which have a broad head, 
stout legs and two spines on the last abdominal segment. None are of 
economic importance. 
ISCHALIA Pasc. 
I. costata Lee. Woodbury XII, Merchantville (W); Lakehurst V (Jl); 
in each case by sifting moss or old leaves in a swamp. 
PYROCHROA Geoff. 
P. flabe llata Fab. Hopatcong (Pm); Greenwood Lake VI, Ft. Lee (Bt); 
Caldwell (Cr); Orange Mts., g. d. (Bf); Sea Isle VII, 4 (Brn). 
P. femoralis Lee. Greenwood Lake, Ft. Lee (Bt); g. d., rare (W). 
DENDROIDES Latr. 
D. canadensis Latr. Hopatcong (Pm); Palisades VII, bred (Lv); Cald¬ 
well (Cr); Orange Mts., West Bergen, under bark (Bf). 
D. concolor Newn. Snake Hill V (Wintersteiner). 
, Family M'ELOIDtE. 
Contains the “oil beetles” and “blister beetles.” They are soft in tex¬ 
ture, usually slender and cylindrical, the thorax narrower than head or 
elytra, the antennae sometimes curiously knotted or otherwise modified 
in the male, the insects as a whole loose-jointed and sprawly in appear¬ 
ance. They vary in color, are often striped and spotted and sometimes 
metallic. In the adult stage they feed on plant tissue and are sometimes 
distinctly injurious. One of them, known as the “old-fashioned striped 
potato beetle,” frequently comes in late summer, sometimes with, some¬ 
times replaced by an ally, and it or they sweep through a field or garden 
before the grower realizes the nature of the attack. They attack not only 
potatoes, but beets and a great variety of other plants and flowers, and 
as a rule disappear almost as suddenly as they come. Some species re¬ 
main for a day or two only; others stay for a week or two, and these, 
when they attack cultivated plants, should be collected in kerosene pans 
or driven by means of lime or other repellants, as may be indicated. 
Arsenites kill them slowly and will not be effective until they have done 
nearly or quite all the injury that they would have caused without treat¬ 
ment. 
Curiously enough, quite a number of the species are markedly beneficial 
in the larval stage, being among the most important checks to grass- 
