126 FAMILIES ENDOMYCHIDAE AND DERMESTIDAE 



EUGONIUS. 



Eugonius gratus, Gorh. 



Reference. — Gorh. Ann. Soc. Eat. France, Ix, 399 (1891). 



Habitat.— Katha, Upper Burma. 



Tree Infested. — Teak {Tectona grandis). Mohnyin Forest, Katha. 



Beetle. — Elongate, ovate. Black, shining, with four transverse 

 irregular-edged orange or yellow patches on the elytra. Head small, 

 punctate ; antennae long, clubbed. Pro- 

 Description, thorax with anteiior edge deeply incised 

 for insertion of head, the lateral margins 

 channelled ; disk convex, with a longitudinal median line and fine 

 scattered punctures. Elytra convex, widest about middle, constricted 

 apically, leaving a small pygidium exposed ; finely punctate, the 

 orange maikings one on each side near base, the other in apical 

 third. Femora thickened anteriorly. Length, 9.2 mm. 



I took a mature specimen of this endomychid from 



beneath the bark of a standing 



Life History. girdled teak-tree in the Mohnyin 



^ „ ^ . Forest in Katha on 20 February 



Fig. 87. — Engounis . . 



oratHs Gorh. IQOS- Beyond the fact of taking the beetle in this 



Upper Burma. curious position, I have no record of its habits. 



Family DERMESTIDAE. 



A family of small beetles with retractile heads, short clubbed antennae, 

 and five-jointed tarsi, the upper and lower surfaces of the beetle being 

 often clothed with pubescence. 



The larva is elongate and cylindrical, tapering posteriorly, where it 

 ends in two hooks ; the body is clothed with stiff hairs, giving the grub the 

 appearance of a small caterpillar. 



Some members of the family are found under the bark of trees, but little 

 is at present known about them. It is probable that some of them are pre- 

 daceous upon bark- and wood-eating beetles, and so of use to the forester. 



The two commonest beetles the forester will meet with are : 



(i) Dermestes vulpinus, F. — The grubs of this beetle feed upon the 

 pupa of the silkworm moth, gnawing through the silk cocoon to get at it. 

 In this way they do serious damage to silk in India. 



(2) Anthrenus vorax, Wat. — A common silvery-greyish, oval, thick 

 beetle, with darker patches on the upper surface and silvery-white beneath, 

 which is such a pest to the sportsman. This is the insect which destroys 

 his skins and horns unless they are properly cured. 



