38 



WATER-SCAVENGER BEETLES. 



FAMILY WATER-SCAVENGER BEETLES. 



(Hydrophilidae). 



These beetles, some of which are quite large and well 

 known, as they are attracted to the electric lights in our streets 

 in large numbers, even when a long distance away from ponds and 

 lakes, are found in stagnant water, where they either cling to 

 the plants growing on the bottom of such pools, or move about 

 in a peculiar manner, not swimming with strokes of both hind 

 legs, as the aquatic carnivorous beetles do, but by moving the 





Fig. 27. — Hyclrophilus, adult, larva and peculiar egg-mass. After Brehtn. 



legs alternately as if walking. They possess short club-shaped 

 feelers well hidden beneath the head, so that they are not readily 

 detected. Their food is mostly composed of decaying material, 

 but if they have an opportunity to catch living prey they are not 

 slow to eat it as well. They breathe by carrying a film of air 

 on the lower side of the body, which gives them a beautiful sil- 

 very appearance. W^hen they need a fresh supply of air they 



