.')(;() FAMILV XX[ — OUClMiD.K. 



P^aniily XXI. ( "IHM I.f ID.E. 

 The Flat Bark P>ketles. 



Tlu^ Cuenjid.i' eoiistitnte a small family oL' very depressed eloii- 

 j?ate beetles. As Mi". I)iii'\' has well said: "The inombers of the 

 ramily are strikiiiii' rxamplfs ol' forms modifiiMl for an existence 

 iiiidci- the loose, elosedyiiiii hark oi' trees. ciiahliD^' I hem lo s((neeze 

 into creN-ices, where they iiiid food for llieir hi!-\,i'. and which the 

 eternall\' \ii;ilaid an! cannot peiiet I'ale. " The name "Cncnjus" 

 is ol' South American oi'iiiin. and its meaning- is not cei'tain. It is 

 said to he applied by the natives to a luminous snapping beetle 

 (Elater nocllIucKs L.) of Brazil and adjoining countries. 



From allied families the Cucujida? may be distinguished l)y 

 having the antenna- 11 -jointed, inserted at the margin of the front, 

 sometimes long and slender, sometimes with the outer joints slightly 

 erdarged; scutellum distinct; elytra rounded at tip and covering 

 the abdomen, usually thit and strongly margined; front co.Kal cavi- 

 ties widely se|)ai'ate(l. usually closed Ix'hind, though open in some 

 subfamilies, the coxa' rounded or subglobular, not prominent ; 

 middle coxa- small, subti'iangular. not |)r()iiiinent ; hind coxa' nearl\' 

 (•(Mitiguous, transverse; abdomen with five free ventral segments. 

 e(|ual in length ; legs rather short, femora large ; tibiae slender, ter- 

 minated by tw'O spurs. 



The larva? of the Chicujida\ as far as known, are flattened grubs 

 with distinct antenna' and several sim]ile eyes, the terminal seg- 

 ment ending in hooks or tubercles. Like the mature beetles they 

 live under bark, and some of them are carnivorous, feeding upon 

 mites, podurids and small larva^ of wood-boring beetles, so that in 

 general they may be regarded as beneficial. However, two of the 

 beetles. Sih'diius suri miiih iisis, and CatlKD'iiis adrriia, infest stored 

 grain, dried fruits and othei- s1oi-es. and are therefore^ often quite 

 injurious. 



The principal literatui-e treating of the Noi'th American forms 

 is as follows : 



LeConte. — "Revision of the Cucniides of the United States." 

 mProc. Phil. .\cad. Nat. Sci., Vll. 1854, 78-79. 



Caseij. — "Kevisioii of the ('ucujida' of America North of 

 Mexico." hi Trans. Amei'. Ktil. Soc.. XI. 1884, 60-112. 



Wicl-Jiaiii. "'The Cncujiche of (hitario and (^)uebec." in Can. 

 Knt. XXVli. 1805. 25-20. 



