FAMILY SCOLYTIDAE 



509 



Tiib consistinj,' of a liead and twelve 



two white wavy bands. The abdomen beneath tlie elytra and on the under-surface is 

 bright vermilion. Length, about ^ in. Fig. /^ f. 

 Larva.— An elongate, pink, worm-like, flat 

 body segments. The head is brown and 

 the mandibles are black ; there is a brown 

 patch just behind the head on the upper 

 surface and a pair of Ijrown spots on 

 each of the two following segments. 

 Each of the hrst three segments has a 

 pair of legs, and the grub tapers in front. 

 Length, i in. to I in. See tig. a,a i. 



Life History. — The larvae of 

 this beetle are to be found in the 

 tunnels of the Folygraphiis and 

 other scolytid grubs, where they 



feed upon them, moving from one ^^^^ y^2.—Tha,iasifnus hhnalayensis, , 



gallerv to another between the predaceous upon scolytid bark- and wood-borers. 

 , , " J u- 1 ^.- a rti. vouns larva ; /', beetle seizing a bark-beetle ; 



bark and cambium layer. ^V^J^, ^^ devouring k Scolyt.s bark%eetle. North- 



The beetles are to be seen on ^Vest Himalaya. (E. P. S.) 

 the wing in the forest, flying about 



over or running along the trunks of infested trees. Owing to their bright 

 red bodies they are most conspicuous, and so easily visible when on the 

 wing. They are very active, and seize with their powerful mandibles the 

 bark-beetles they find on the trunk or just boring into the tree. Having 

 caught a beetle the clerid holds it between its fore legs, tears off the head, 

 and then sucks out the contents of the rest of the body. They are voracious 

 insects, and consume a large number of beetles. The Thanasimns is thus 

 of great service to the forester, and should be carefully made known to 

 forest guards and others in order that it may not be ignorantly destroyed 

 as a pest. 



I have taken this beetle on the wing in the forest in spring, early 

 summer, and in the autumn months (May, June, first half of July, late 

 September, October, and early November). It is thus probable that it 

 passes through a number of life-cycles in the year which may be identical 

 with those of the bark-borers on which it preys. Since, however, it preys 

 upon a number of different pests it is probable that the generations overlap, 

 and that beetles are to be found on the wing from spring to late autumn. 

 In favour of this theory is the fact that larvae of different sizes are usually 

 found in any one set of bark-beetle galleries. The eggs are laid in crevices 

 of the bark or just inside the entrance-holes of bark beetles ; the grubs on 

 hatching out crawl down the entrance-tunnel into the egg-gallery of the 

 bark-borer, and thence reach the larval galleries. When full-fed the 

 grubs eat out a pupating-chamber in the outer bark of the tree and pupate 



there. 



The insect is polygamous, the males pairing with a number of females, 

 and both continue feeding voraciously for some days. 



