COLEOPTERA— CHARACTERS, HABITS, CLASSH^TCATION 63 



A large species of Elater is to be found in dead pyinkadu. Perhaps the 

 family Bostrj'chidae contains the most abundant numbers of wood-borers, 

 such as species o{ Hctcrohostrychus (p. 146) and Sinoxylon. 



Others are to be found amongst the Anthribidae, such as Xylinades and 

 other anthribids (p. 386), in pyinkadu. The Cossoninae (Curculionidae) 

 contain species of Rhyncholus (p. 451) which infest coniferous trees in the 

 Himalaya. There are many Scolytidae whose attacks are confined to dr\- 

 wood, such as some species of Hylastes (p. 473) and Xyleborus, etc. 



Finally there are a large series of Coleoptera which confine their attacks 

 to rotting timber. In this group the first beetles to be considered are the 

 Passalidae (p. 66). Species of this family have been commonly met with in 

 sal in Assam, in sauer {Bctnla) and kharani {Symplocus) in the Eastern 

 Himalaya, and in rhododendron in the Ootacamund Hills. The Lucanidae, 

 or stag beetles, are also to be commonly found in rotting wood and stumps, 

 the commonest instances of which are the Lucanus lunifer (p. 70) in oak 

 stumps in the Western Himalaya, and L. uicaresi in kharani in the 

 eastern portions of the range. Many Nitidulidae (p. 107) and Cucujidae 

 (p. 115), etc., are also usually to be found beneath the bark of rotting trees, 

 and hosts of other tiny members of the little-known families. 



The fact that the Coleoptera do not, so far as is at present known, 

 contain a large number of predaceous insects as compared with the noxious 

 ones has been alluded to. There are, however, fortunately several insects 

 of the highest importance which fall within this category — the Thanasimus 

 (Cleridae) (p. 186), predaceous upon the more pernicious of the bark- 

 beetle pests of the Himalaya ; the histerids Niponius (p. 102), Platysonia 

 (p. 105), and Paromalus (p. 107), predaceous upon coniferous bark-beetle 

 pests in the Western Himalaya. Several small and at present not well- 

 known species of Staph}-linidae (p. gg) and Colydiidae (p. iii) also fall 

 within this categor}', as also do the species oi Alindria and Melambia (Trogo- 

 sitidae, p. 114). 



The carabid beetles Anthia (p. g5), Scarites, Morio (pp. g5, g6) are also of 

 use as predators, as also in all probability are some of the forest-living 

 Cicindelidae (p. g3), about whose habits little is at present known. 



The Cucujidae contain useful insects which feed upon bark- and wood- 

 borers, such as Hectarthriun heros (p. 116), predaceous upon 5r»o.v)'/on crassiiin 

 in Terininalia in the Central Provinces, and upon bark-boring Scolytidae 

 in Nauclia sessilijloni in Burma. 



The Coccinellidae are one of the predator families of beetles par 

 excellence, the greater portion of the family being predaceous. 



The best-known instances at present are perhaps the \'edalia (p. 125), 

 which feeds in both its larval and beetle forms on the sal-tree scale insect 

 Monophlebiis, and Coccinella septempunctata (p. 123), which feeds upon the 

 Aphis of the blue pine, the Lnchnns of the silver fir, and the Cherines of 

 the spruce and silver fir, etc. A number of other species which will be 

 referred to in these pages are known in this connection. 



