252 HYDROFHILID.E. [Sjjh(£ridu7i(V. 



and are nuicli more active : this is a natural consequence of their prediitory habits ; 

 the hirviB of the SphaeridiiuEe, on the otlier hand, being entirely feeders on dung or 

 decaying matter, and being hatched in the midst of their food, do not require to move 

 from one place to another, and hence, as in many of the larvie of the Diptera, &c., 

 the legs are not developed. 



In Gemminger and von Harold's catalogue seven genera are enumerated, 

 five of which are represented in the British fauna; they may he dis- 

 tinguished as follows : — 



I. Elytra with sutural stria only. 



i. Scutellum in an equilateral triangle ; pygidium 

 liidden Ctclokotum, Er. 



ii. Scutellum twice as long as broad; pygidium 



visible SPH^EIDIUM, F. 



II. Elytra regularly puucturtd in rows, or with distinct 



punctured stria3. 

 i, Mesosternum narrow; epipleuraj plainly visible along 



meso- and meta-sternum CERCroN, Leach. 



ii. Mesosternum very broad ; cpijileuraB wanting. 



1. Anterior tibia3 strongly emargiuate externally at 

 apex; thorax margined; upper surface without 



pubescence Megasternum, Mtds. 



2. Anterior tibiffi entire ; thorax not margined ; upper 



surface finely pubescent .- . Crtptopleueum, Muls. 



(Figures of the undersides of all these five species are given by 

 Mulsant in his Histoire jS'aturelle des Coleop teres de France, Palpi- 

 cornes, in tlie single plate at the end of the part.) 



CVCXiONOTUIW, Erichson. 



According to the Munich Catalogue this genus comprises thirty 

 species, but several of these must be referred to Dad ijJodernum, Woll. ; 

 they are Avidely distributed over the surface of the globe. 



C> orbiculare, F. Short oval, convex, shining black, upper 

 surface distinctly and thickly punctured, funiculus of antennae, and 

 tarsi, red ; maxillary palpi shorter than antennae, last jcnnt bluntly 

 acuminate; posterior angles of thorax rounded ; scutellnm large; sutural 

 stria well marked from apex to Iteyoud middle ; legs short, femora broad, 

 coarsely pimctured. L. 4-5 mm. 



At roots of grass and under rubbish in marshy j^laces, also in damp moss at the 

 sides of ponds ; common and widely distributed ; often found iu company with 

 ChcEtarthria ; Scotland, somewhat local, but widely distributed. 



SPHJERIDZUM, Fabricius. 



This genus contains about twenty species, which are widely distributed, 

 being found in Europe, South Africa, jS'orth America, Ceylon, Java, i^-c. ; 

 they live in dung of herbivorous animals, in which they bore galleries ; 

 our common species S. scarahceoides may often be seen on cow-dung iu 

 the hot sun, but at the least approach of danger it very swiftly disappears 

 into its retreat. 



