352 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARTHROPODS. 



fungi, upon dead auiniiil :iiicl vegetable matter, u]><iu dung, and njion jilant-galls ; the 

 larvfB of Hijpoiihheus ferrHf/ineus devour the Larvre of Tomicus stenoi/n/jj/ius., and 

 the larvfe of TriboUum ferrnriineum and of T. castaiietim are museum pests. The 

 larviB as well as the imagos of the Tenelirionidre are usually abundantly parasited by 

 intestinal Gregarina; of some species of Tenebrionidaj one cannot find an individual, 

 upon dissection of large numbers, that does not harbor one or more sjieeies of these 

 parasites. 



The geogra]>liical distrilmtion of the Tencbrioniche is somewhat remarkalile. On 

 the eastern coast of Xorth .Vmerica the family is poorly represented, but the number 

 of o-enera and species in the fauna increases toward the west, until, u)>on reaeliing 

 California, tliev are among the most aliundant C'oleoptera. They are especially 

 aliuudant also along the western coast of South America, and in Europe. 



The uses to which Tenebrionid:e have been ]nit arc comparatively few. The larvre 

 of BJaps viortisaga are said to be roasted and eaten by Egyptian women, and the 

 larvfe of Tenehrio and AlphitohiKS have been reared in zoological gardens as food for 

 amphibians and insectivorous birds. 



Amono- the beetles belonging to the sub-family Tenebrionina' are those of the genus 

 Helops. In Helopjs the tarsi are slender, the abdomen not jiedunculate, and there is a 

 coriaceous band above the labrum ; some of the species are wingless, and their form 

 varies from oljlong to oval. Some of the species of ' Ildops are beautifully striped 

 longitudinally with changeal)le lironze lines. This is especially the case with H. mkans, 

 found in the northeastern United States. The larva of 11. striutiM, a Euro])ean species, 

 has been fouml living in decayed coniferous ■rt'ood, feeding not only u]>on the wood 

 but upon the excrement of wood-boring longicorn larva'. II. pi<lJiis\\i\f. l)een found in 

 Illinois about ajiple and peach trees that had been attacked by borers. 



BoUtothefKS bifurcus is a curious rough lieetle not uncommon in the northeastern 

 iiart of the United States and in Canada about species of Pohjporus and other fungi 

 u]ion trunks of trees. It is from 0.4 to 0.5 of an inch long, and dull 

 brown, the lateral margins of the jirothorax are flattened and extend 

 forward each side of the head ; two protuberances upon the dorsum 

 of the ])rothorax are short in females, but in males extend upward 

 and forward to form veritaljle horns, which are of variable length, are 

 flattened out from above and below, and are fringed with light brown 

 hairs around their margins. The antennas are short and ten-jointed. 

 The larvtB feed in holes whirh they liurrow in fungi. They are about 

 ^^titrv^WmcusT 0.75 of an inch long when full grown, long and nari-ow, with the 

 abdomen ending in two sjiines. Pupation takes place within the 

 fungus. Eledona agaricola, a European species closely related to Boh'tothents, has 

 similar habits. 



Diapjeris has a short, oval form, smooth surface, and the first joint of the hind tarsi 

 not exceeding the second in length. D. lu/diii is about 0.25 of an inch long, the elytra 

 are red spotted with black, the rest of the insect is black ; it is very common upon Pohj- 

 poms betuHmis, a large fungus that attacks dead white-birch trees, and in which the 

 larva of the beetle feeds. D. boleti, from Euro]5e, is a trifle larger than B. hydni, and 

 has a broad, irregular black band across the middle, and a similar band near the apex 

 of the elytra; its habits are like those of B. /v/dni. Hoplocephala differs generlcally 

 from Bicqxris in having the first joint of the posterioi- tarsi as long as the second and 

 third joints. H. bicornis, a smooth beetle, only about 0.15 of an inch long, and of a 



