IHE INSECT WORLD. 



i8i 



mandibles and capitate antennae. They are mostly scavengers, 

 the larvae white and somewhat maggot-like, occurring on, in, or 

 under all sorts of excrementitious or decaying animal or vegetable 



KiG. I 60. 



Fig. 162. 



Hister arcnatus and Hister bimaciilatus, much enlarged. 



matter, in over-ripe fungi or fruit, or under the loose bark of 

 trees. They are of no practical importance to the agriculturist. 



The Nitidulidce, or " sap-beetles," are also small, more or less 

 flattened, always with the tip of the abdomen exposed beyond the 

 wing-covers, and with the 

 legs not specialized for 

 digging purposes. They 

 feed in all stages on de- 

 caying or fermenting sap 

 or fruits or in fungi, and 

 some of them are found 

 also on carrion. As a 

 whole, while the species 

 are quite numerously rep- 

 resented and often seen, 

 yet they are not either markedly beneficial or injurious. 



Somewhat similar habits are met with in the Trogositidts, 

 which are also flattened creatures, most of them living under 

 bark. Some of the species of Tenebrioides, however, — black 

 beetles about one-fourth of an inch in length, with square thorax 

 and large head, known as " cadelles" — are found in stables, 

 barns, and mills, feeding on grain, meal, and flour. They are 



Carpophilus hemiptei 

 enlarged. 



Ips fasciatus and its 

 larva, enlarged. 



