168 MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 



of the body; with two long diverguig setse, arising from the anterior 

 margin of the thorax, and with two short anal setae. 



I possess many larvae belonging to this family, none of which, how- 

 ever, I have succeeded in rearing to the perfect state ; some of them 

 so strongly resemble the larvae of the Dyticidffi in the general form of 

 the body, and in the structure of the trophi, that it would be difficult, 

 were it not for the aquatic habits of the latter, to decide to which 

 group of insects they belonged. This is particularly the case with 

 the larvae of some of the larger species, which, as above noticed, in 

 their perfect state most nearly approach the Silphidae. One of the 

 largest of these, which I have represented in Jig. 16. l., is upwards 

 of an inch long^ and is apparently the larva of Goerius olens, or 

 Creophilus maxillosus (agreeing with the descriptions given of the 

 former by various writers). The head and four anterior segments are 

 scaly, the remainder being fleshy, with the sides rounded. The jaws 

 {Jig. 16. 4., 16. 5. maxillae, 16. 6. labium in situ) are short, and fold upon 

 the front margin of the head (^Jig- 16. 2. the eyes, 16. 3. the antennsB, 

 and 16. 7. one of the anterior legs) ; in others, however, the head is 

 more concave, and the jaws are rather bent upwards, and do not meet 

 so closely ; in these the body is of nearly equal breadth throughout. 

 In some smaller and apparently younger individuals, the anal setae 

 are much elongated, sometimes nearly equal to half the length of the 

 body; these occasionally consist of two or three joints {Jig. 16. 8.) ; 

 but in others there are as many as eight articulations. The head, in 

 some species, is smaller than the following segment, as in the larva 

 of Siagonium 4-corne (^Jig- 16. 12.). The species which feed upon 

 decaying vegetable matter appear to exhibit this difference, as was 

 especially the case in a larva (7%. 16. 10.) of which I found many spe- 

 cimens devouring turnips in the winter months, and in which the body 

 is more fleshy than in the preceding, and the mandibles bidentate 

 {Jig- 16. II.). In several pupae of these insects which I possess, the 

 lower wings are folded over, and meet upon the breast, and conse- 

 quently extend far beyond the elytra, which are distinctly perceived 

 to reach about one third of their length ; this is the more remarkable, 

 since in other beetles which have the wings much longer than the 

 elytra the former are folded up in this state, so as not to extend be- 

 yond the latter : the head is closely applied to the breast; and all the 

 limbs are so intimately folded together, that the insect appears to be 

 enveloped in a single skin. 



