82 



INSECTS AT HOME. 



covered with very small punctures, and the elytra are bluish- 

 black edged with red. The less are light-red. On account of 

 the extreme tenuity of the connection between the head and 

 the narrowed thorax, this insect is apt to fall to pieces in the 

 cabinet if the drawer containing it be shut witli a jerk, and it 

 has therefore obtained the specific name of frag Ills. It is not 



1. Stilicus frasilis. 2. Stenus bimaculatus. 3. Omalium florale. 4. Progmatha qnadri- 

 cornis. 5. Micralymina brevipenne. a. Stenu-^, li^iila. b. Steiuis, left mandible. c. 

 Stilicns, right mandilile. d. Prognatha, maxillary palpus. e. Prognatha, labium, /. 

 Stllicus, maxillary palpus. g. Steuus, maxillary palpus. 



a very common insect, but is spread tolerably widely, and 

 may be found by careful searching in hotbeds and heaps of 

 decaying vegetable matter. 



Other species of this curious genus can be found by looking 

 in the proper places. Stilicus geniculatus, for example, in- 

 habits chalky districts, and Stilicus orbiculatus must be sought 

 in marshes. 



