384 



NATURAL HrSTORY OF ARTHROPODS. 



absent. While most nf these beetles live upon earrion, attaekincj by preference decay- 

 ing; animal matter, a few liave mixed habits and attack decomposing and even living 

 vegetation, while some are l;nown, when pressed by hniiger, to eat 

 living insects, not sparing their own species. Leptinus testaceus has 

 been found in Normandy by Mi-. A. Fauvel in the nests of mice, 

 where it is supposed to feed on fungi. Mr. M. (-iirard has descriljed 

 an eyeless species, Scotocri/ptus indiponn, from the nests of bees 

 (Melipona scutellaris) in Brazil. Other eyeless forms (species of 

 Leptoderus), together with others (A(Mops) that have very small 

 eyes, inhabit caves. In Ariinimelus lebioides, from Japan, there is 

 ;in ocellus behind each compound eye. Some species of C'alops in- 

 FiG.iH.- A-ecrnpiii- ],,iiiit ants' nests. Siiecies of Necrop/wriis stridulate. Many kinds 



tits subtcrraneus. ^ ^ ^ *' 



of !Sil]ihid^ emit nauseous fluids, and their odor remains disagree- 

 able after years of drying in the collection. Tlie species of this family, even in 

 tiie lai'val state, are very sensitive to odoi's, and are guided by their olfactory organs 

 to tlieir food. 



The larva' of Siljihichi? have si.v legs, fdur-jointed antenn;e, strong bidentate mandi- 

 bles, three-jointed maxillary and two-jointed libial ]ial]ii, and generally a two-jointed 

 appendage each side of the anus. The ocelli vary in number, there being none in 

 Adelopis and Anisotoma, two pairs in A</(it/iidiiim, and si.x pairs in Silpha and most 

 other genera. The larvre generally inhabit flu- same jilaces and devour the same food 

 as do the imagos. 



Among some of the smaller species, which have the posterior coxffi simple and the 

 anterior coxal cavities closed behind, those of Aidstoma and Agathidium live in 

 fungi. 



Adelopiti^ :i wonl which signifies inciiiis|iicuous-eyed, is the name of a genus of 

 beetles which have been erroneously .said to Ije eyeless. The species have slender 

 antennae, which are longer than the head and thorax, and a prominently carinate me- 

 sosternum. A. hirtus was first described froni a .specimen taken under a stone in 

 Mammoth Cave, Kenttu-ky, and has since been found in other eaves of the same 

 region. It is oval in form, grayish brown, and al)out 0.1 of an inch long. Its larva 

 and pu]ia have been described by jNIr. H. G. Iliibbai-d. 



The genera Silpha and J\eci-op/(orii.i include the largest and best-known species 

 of this family. In Silpha the form is flat, oval, or nearly so ; the antennre are eleven- 

 jointed, and gradually increase in size from the middle toward the 

 apex, or are slender and scarcely clubbed. A. aincricana (sometimes 

 called S. peltata) is about 0.7 of an inch long. Its ]ii-othorax is yel- 

 low with a dull black median spot, its elytra arc brownish lilack and 

 rough. S. atrata, which is said to have been introduced into America 

 from Europe, is about 0.4 of an inch long, Idaek, densely punctured, . 

 and with elevated elytral ridges, between which the punctures are 

 irregularly arranged. Its antennae are nearly filiform. Another 

 species, found both in Europe and Xorth America, is /S". Z«»»o«icc/, FiG.iSo. — siipha 



.... . , ajiuricana. 



which IS about the same size as A. atrata, liut has a gray pubescent 

 ))rothorax and dull-lilac-k elytra, the latter roughened by ridges with single rows of 

 irregular ]irotuberances between them. In New England S. incequalis and S. nove- 

 horacensis are common species. Both are a little larger than *S'. atrata, and have 

 the prothorax and elytra longitudinally wavy ; the former is entirely l)lack, the 



