290 MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 



truncate ; the eyes are emarginate, with the antenna; inserted within 

 the notch, and filiform, or but slightly thickened towards the tips, and 

 with the last joint longer than the preceding, especially in the males 

 (^fig. 32. 21. extremity of $ antennae; 32. 22. ditto 5 antennae). The 

 palpi are thickened at the tip, the terminal joint of the maxillary 

 being reversed-triangular (^fig. 32.20.). The mandibles (^^. 32. 19.) 

 are short and thick. The femora are oval and clavate ; the tibiae long 

 and slender, those of the anterior leg sometimes curved; the penul- 

 timate joint of the tarsi is bilobed, and the claws simple (yfig- 32. 23. 

 anterior tarsus ; 24. ditto, seen sideways). 



These insects are found in woods and hedges, and upon various 

 plants, counterfeiting death when alarmed, like the Cantharidae. Their 

 bodies are soft, and their motions on the wing active, although they 

 creep but awkwardly. The species are ^q.\\ in number, although widely 

 dispersed, being found in almost every region: one only inhabits our 

 own country, as mentioned in my synopsis. 



I have often beaten its larva i^fig- 32. 25.) out of whitethorn hedges 

 in October ; and Mr. Ingpen has reared it to the perfect state. It is 

 of a rather thickened and somewhat cylindric form, and leathery tex- 

 ture, densely clothed with brown hairs, having the head deflexed, with 

 the antenna? distinct, and laterally porrected ; the legs are short, and 

 the three terminal segments are gradually attenuated, the last 

 terminating in a bifid point : I have also found these larvae in April ; 

 and have observed, that, in the beginning of the following month, they 

 have shed their skins, and increased considerably in size, so that 

 I should suppose these individuals would not arrive at the perfect 

 state until the following spring. 



Lyonnet has also given a description and figures of the preparatory 

 states of this insect, published in his Recherches, pi. 11. The larvae were 

 found in the winter, at the roots of trees, under dead oak leaves, upon 

 which Lyonnet states that they fed. When disturbed, they rolled 

 themselves up, with the head bent towards the tail; on the 3d July, 

 the larva assumed the pupa state, without forming any cocoon. The 

 pupa is hairy, and is also furnished at the sides of the abdomen with 

 eight pairs of large tubercles, which are hairy. The imago appeared 

 in the same summer. 



