CIGAKETTE-BEETLES. 67 



especially towards the end of the elytra, where the abdomen is 

 very broad. The antennas are also short, a little enlarged at the 

 tip, and in many species the males have them curiously knotted. 

 Upon the sides of their body they possess soft and orange- 

 colored organs, which become plainly visible if the beetles are 

 taken up with the lingers, as in such a case these vesicles are 

 said to exhale strong odors, offensive to cannibal insects, hence 

 the}- may be considered as organs of defense. 



■Members of this family are frequently seen in the flowers of 



Fig. 76. — Malachius triarginicollis. Greatly enlarged, .\fter Sinitli. 



fruit-producing plants ; they feed also on other insects and their 

 eggs. Others have been found in the burrows made by Ijark- 

 beetles. To show how such beetles look an illustration of a 

 Malachiiis is given in Fig. y6. 



FAMILY PTINIDAE. 



(Dcolh-'-a'afcii ; Cigarcftc-bcctlcs) . 



This family is composed of rather small insects, rarely ex- 

 ceeding a quarter of an inch in length ; the family as such is not 

 easily detined, as it contains an aggregation of very odd-looking 

 forms. As a rather general character they have a more or less 

 cylindrical, firm body, solid wing-covers, and a head that can 

 be retracted. Some are possum-like in their method of mimick- 

 ing death, and thev do this so thtjroughlv well that it is almost 



