SOLDIERS AND SAILOES. 31 



"What may be the reason for their bearing the popular name of 

 "Soldiers" I do not know, unless it may be (quoting from Rye's 

 ' British Beetles,' p. 141) that they are " warriors a outrance " 

 (fighters to the death). They are described by Prof. Westwood as 

 " very voracious, feeding upon other insects, and devouring such of 

 their own species as they can subdue, the females not even sparing 

 their mates." Also De Geer (see reference further on) notes having 

 observed a female beetle in the act of holding a mate wrong side up 

 with her feet while she gnawed an opening into its abdomen with 

 her jaws. 



For some years back inquiries have been sent me as to the 

 (supposed) injurious habits of the beetles ; but in the past season 

 specimens of the larvae were sent me on February 1st from near 

 Faversham, with a memorandum that the observer was sendiug some 

 sort of caterpillar that he had found eating his Wheat, which was 

 sown after Clover. Information was requested as to what the creatures 

 might be, with the further observation: "I have sown lime over the 

 field to try and get rid of them " (F. N.). 



As I was not able myself to make sure of the kind of larva sent, I 

 submitted the sample to Mr. 0. E. Janson, who i-eplied that the 

 "velvety larva" was undoubtedly a Telephorus; and further noted that 

 only three or four species of Telephonis larvae had been identified, and 

 they were almost identical in larval stage, but my specimens agreed 

 very well with the descriptions and figures of T. rufus given by the late 

 G. E. Waterhouse in the first volume of the Ent. Soc. Trans. ; "fuscus 

 and lividas have also been described, and are very similar" (0. E. J.). 



As the appearance of the larva or grub is so little known, I givo 

 Mr. Waterhouse's description at length, with the short but very 

 valuable observation as to locality and date of feeding. 



" Telephorus nifus, Miill. — Larva. Head coriaceous, pitchy black, 

 furnished with two stemmata, one on each side close to the insertion 

 of the antennae. Body soft, of a dark brown colour, and very thickly 

 covered with soft fine hairs, giving it the appearance of velvet. 



"Length 7| lines. 



" Head depressed, subquadrate, the basal half covered with a fine 

 pubescence, of the same velvet-like texture as the body ; the anterior 

 half smooth. Antenna; with the basal joint short; second rather 

 elongate, and containing two small processes partly within the apex. 

 MaxillcE, soft and fleshy, thickly covered with hairs, especially on the 

 inner side which is bilobed. Maxillary palpi four-jointed, basal joint 

 short ; second moderate and cylindrical ; third short and indistmct ; 

 terminal slender and acute. Mandibles long and acute, unidentate 

 internally. 



" Body elongate, slightly depressed, the joints nearly equal in 



