266 MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 



habits and a description of the preparatory states of Thanasimus formi- 

 carius, in his " Forst. Insecten, " pi. 1. f. 17. The larva {Jig- 29. 15.) 

 is of a dark pink colour, with a pitchy head and prothorax, and two 

 pitchy spots on the meso- and meta-thorax. In its form, it closely 

 resembles Clerus ; it feeds upon lignivorous larvae, having been de- 

 tected by Saxesen and Hartig, in the cocoons of Hylobius notatus and 

 Hercynise : its pupa is represented at Jig. 29. 16. 



The species of the genus Necrobia, as the name implies, depart 

 from the typical habit of the family, by feeding upon carrion and 

 dead animal matter, such as dried skins, old bones, &c., both in 

 the perfect and larva state ; the latter, according to Geoffroy, re- 

 sembles that of Clerus apiarius, having the body elongated, soft, with 

 six scaly legs, and two hooks at the tail. To one of the species of 

 this genus (N. ruficollis), entomologists are indebted for the preserv- 

 ation of the life of Latreille. Scarcely needed this celebrated man, 

 who, by his numerous and highly valuable works, has raised the 

 science to the high rank which it now holds, to apologise for the 

 introduction of the statement of this fact, which, from its singu- 

 larity and the interest which must attach to it, I doubt not will be 

 acceptably received in his own words : " A I'epoque de ces jours 

 afFreux que firent eclore en France et I'ambition de quelques hommes 

 et le fanatisme revolutionnaire, je trouvai I'insecte que je viens de 

 decrire a Bordeaux, sur les murs de la prison ou j'etois detenu. 

 Renferme dans un bouchon de liege cachete, et envoye a Bory de 

 Saint Vincent, cet insecte devint I'occasion de ma delivrance, " 

 (^Hist. Nat., S^c, vol. ix. p. 157.)- M. Brulle has given a full narrative 

 of this interesting event in his Hist. Nat. des Insectes Col. vol. iii. 

 S. S. Saunders, Esq., M. E. S. also found the same insect in profusion 

 upon the walls of the Penitentiary, Westminster. 



I observed specimens of the same insect both in the larva and 

 imago state, in company with a great quantity of Dermestes vulpinus, 

 which had destroyed a cargo of cork (communicated by Mr. Bower- 

 bank to the Entovnological Society). It is impossible, however, to 

 decide whether the Necrobia had fed upon the cork, or whether its 

 larva had attacked those of the Dermestes. The larva (^fig. 29. 17.) 

 is of a much more elongated and anteriorly attenuated form than 

 the other larvae of the family yet observed. In the 14th volume 

 of the LiimcEan Transactions, an account is given of some insects 

 found on opening a mummy, amongst which were specimens of 



