70 Observations on various Insects 



however, which prey upon them, and one of the most formidable 

 enemies of the earwig is a long, black Rove-beetle, named 



29. Staphylinus {Ocj/pus) OLENS, Fab. The Fetid Rove-beetle, 

 well known in this country as the Devil's Coach-horse. 



It is of a dead-black colour, thickly punctured all over with 

 the minutest points, and thickly clothed with very short but stiff 

 and fine black hairs, which in the. sun appear iridescent. The 

 head is very broad and depressed, as well as the rest of the body ; 

 the eyes are small and lateral ; the two horns are rather short, a 

 little tapering, pubescent, and 11-jointed, the basal joint being 

 long, and the terminal one somewhat claw-shaped : it has two 

 uncommonly strong and powerful jaws, which can be opened 

 very wide ; they are curved, witli an edge for cutting, and there 

 are two teeth on the inside of each, with a fringed, leathery 

 appendage near the middle ; the upper and under lips and the 

 maxillse form the rest of the mouth, together with the four feelers, 

 which are hairy and jointed, the external having four joints, the 

 others, which are much smaller, being only 3-jointed : the trunk 

 is somewhat orbicular ; the scutel is small ; the elytra when 

 closed arc nearly quadrate, and cover the two wings, which are 

 much shorter than the body, and are folded up in repose ; they 

 are stiff and yellowish, with a few nervures, and are not suffi- 

 ciently ample to enable the animal to fly ; the body is more than 

 half the entire length of the beetle, and tapers towards the apex, 

 being composed of six and seven segments, with a little hairy 

 process on each side of the apex ; the six legs are strong, the 

 anterior coxa? are very stout and powerful ; the thighs and shanks 

 are short ; the latter have spines at the apex, and are bristly all 

 over ; the feet are 5-jointed ; the anterior are short, ovate, dilated, 

 and very velvety or cushioned on the under-side ; the first four 

 joints are heart-shaped, the fifth is slender and clavate, terminated 

 by two claws ; the other feet are linear, the basal joint is the 

 longest: length sometimes li inch. 



Tiie Fetid Rove-beetles are abundant during the whole of Sep- 

 tember in meadows and wherever grass grows, and they continue 

 so in some seasons to the middle of October, or until frosts set 

 in; at that time we see them in roads and the footpaths in fields 

 and pastures, where they are often trodden upon during the night, 

 at which period they come out from under stones and other 

 hiding-places to ramble about for prey. There can be no doubt 

 that many of these beetles live through the winter, as we find 

 them occasionally in the month of March. It is one of the 

 largest Rove-beetles (as the SfaphylinicUe are called) in Europe, 

 but it seems to be j)rincipally an inhabitant of the more tem- 

 perate parts, and it is very remarkable that it was never found 



