FAMILIES TENEBRIONIDAE AND CISTELIDAE 



243 



I took a number of specimens of this beetle from beneath the bark of a 



large standing dead Dalbergia ciiUrata on Kowloon Island 



Life History. on the Salween River in Tenasserim on 9 March 1905. 



The beetles were found together beneath the bark in the 



angle between the wings of the enormous buttress which formed the lower 



ten feet of the trunk of the tree. The beetles are very active, and ran 



rapidly up the trunk as soon as the bark was stripped off. The insect is 



probably carnivorous, and may have been feeding on one or more of the 



insects with which this tree was infested {vide pp. 427, 449, 598). 



Alphitobius. 

 Alphitobius piceus, Oliv. 



Reference.— Oliv. Ent. iii, 1795, 58, p. 17, t. 2, f. 13, a, b. 



Habitat. — Tenasserim. 



Tree Infested.— Yindiak {Dalbergia ciiUvata). Nat- 

 ■choung Reserve, Ataran River, Tenasserim. 



Beetle. — Small ; black, moderately shining. Head small, 

 rounded on anterior margin, the edge reddish ; finely punctate. 

 Prothorax wider than long, the sides 

 Description. rounded, posterior margin thickened ; uni- 



formly and densely punctate ; scutellum 

 rather large, punctate. Elytra with rounded sides, the apices sepa- 

 rately rounded ; striate-punctate, the lateral margins flattened 

 horizontally. Legs rather short. Length, 4.5 mm. 



Fig. 171. 

 Alphitobius picci/s, 

 Oliv. Tenasserim. 



During a, visit paid to the Natchoung Reserve on i6 March 1905, 

 in company with the Divisional Forest Officer, Mr. Parker, I obtained a 

 specimen of this beetle from beneath the bark of a felled Dalbergia 

 ■ciiltrata tree. 



Family CISTELIDAE 



The beetles of this family closely resemble Tenebrionidae, but they 

 have pectinate instead of simple claws to the feet. The beetles have long 

 antennae, longer in the male than in the female. 



The members of the family are said to live and feed beneath the bark 

 and sapwood of dead and decaying trees, but some species appear to 

 feed on the flowers. 



Cistelomorpha andrewesi, Fairm. 



Habitat— Siwaliks, North India. 



Tree Infested. — Sal {Shorca robusta). Siwaliks. 



Q 2 



