414 Introduction to Animal Morphology . 



few (Staphylinidae) are viviparous ; the larvae are usually 

 naked, hexapod, or footless, rarely with ocelli ; the pupae 

 are exsertcB. A few larvae (Meloe, Rhipidius, Metoecus, Lytta), 

 are parasites. In Sitaris and Meloe there is a doubled larval 

 stage. About 83,000 species are known, of which 10,000 are 

 European. 



They are divisible into the following Sub-orders : — 

 Sub-order i . Cryptotetramera — mostly with a four-jointed 

 tarsus, the penultimate joint being small. This includes 

 four families : — i. Endomychidte — headlong; abdomen 5-6- 

 ringed ; larvae living in fungi. 2. Coccinellidae : Lady Birds — 

 head short ; body short, convex ; flat beneath ; antennae 

 short, eleven-jointed. 3. Pselaphidse — elytrae only covering 

 part of the abdomen. 4. Trichopterygidae — antennae eleven- 

 jointed, thread-like ; wings with long marginal hairs. 



Sub-order 2. Crypto-pentamera — tarsi five-jointed, but the 

 penultimate joint very small. 5. Bruchidae — head long, with 

 a thick neck ; abdomen with five ventral rings ; often found 

 in leguminous pods. 6. Curculionidag — head prolonged into 

 a proboscis ; oesophagus long ; jaws at the tip of the snout ; 

 antennae arising in lateral grooves ; meso- and metathoracic 

 ganglia fused. About 10,000 species are described. 7, Bos- 

 trichidae — body small ; head thick, short ; mandibles pro- 

 jecting ; palps small; eyes elongate, lateral; antennae with 

 swollen ends. The larvae destroy the wood and bark of 

 trees in which they burrow. Hylurgus and Hylesinus thus 

 destroy the tips of the branches of pine trees. Scolytus and 

 Tomicus are also destructive, the former especially to elms. 



8. Longicornes (Cerambycidse) — body elongated ; head pro- 

 minent; antennae as long as, or longer than the body, usually 

 eleven-jointed; mandible large, usually with a single point. 



9. Chrysomelidse : Gold Beetles — eyes lateral ; antenna; mo- 

 derate, thread-like, usually eleven-jointed ; mandible with a 

 forked point ; larvae with long legs, and ocelli. Some col- 

 lect their excreta in their back, or form it into a shell, which 

 they drag along. 10. Erotylidae — like the last, but with a 

 flat, 3-4-jointed club at the end of the eleven-jointed an- 

 tennae. 



Sub-order 3. — Heteromera — pro- and mesothoracic limbs, 



