KILLING EEETLES. 145 



among the graves. Yet, unpleasant as these Beetles may be, 

 we are informed that an Egyptian species, Blaps sulcata, is 

 employed as a remedy for ear-ache, and a cure for tlie sting of 

 the scorpion ; while the women are in the habit of seeking and 

 eating it, in order to produce the fatness which is thought in 

 the East to be an essential point in female beauty. 



This Beetle is singularly tenacious of life, having been 

 known to revive after having been immersed in spirits of win<^ 

 for a whole night. However, it cannot withstand boiling 

 water, and instantaneously dies when immersed in it. The 

 Beetle-hunter will always find that boiling water affords the 

 most merciful way of killing the larger Beetles. As all the 

 nervous system runs along the imder side of the body, the 

 Beetle should be plunged into the water with its legs down- 

 wards, and the consequence is tliat the action of the heat 

 instantly destroys both sensation and life. Care must, how- 

 ever, be taken that the water is absolutely boiling, and the 

 Beetle must not be allowed to remain in it, or it will fall to 

 pieces. The best way is to seize the insect by a pair of forceps, 

 to plunge it quickly into the water, and then to withdraw it. 



The larva of the Blaps is represented on Woodcut XV. Fig. 

 a, and is very much like the common meal-worm- 



Passing over several families, we come to the Diaperidas, 

 which are smooth, shining, and brightly-coloured. In general 

 form and colour they very much resemble tlie Chrysomelidse 

 (which will be presently described), but may be at once distin- 

 guished from them by the tarsi of the first pair of legs having 

 five joints, whereas the Chrysomelidse have only four visible 

 joints to these members. 



The typical genus, from which our example is taken, is 

 distinguished by the basal joint of the hind tarsi, which is 

 short, whereas it is long in the other genera. The pretty little 

 Diaperis boleti is shown on Woodcut XV. Fig. 2, and one of its 

 antennae at Fig. e. This is a boldly-coloured insect, its body 

 being shining-black, crossed on the elytra by two yellow -bands, 

 one near the base of the elytra, and the other rather beyond 

 the middle. It derives its specific name from the fact that in 

 the larval state it is a fungus-eater, feeding on several of the 

 boleti which grow on the trunks of trees. It is remarkable foi 



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