COLEOPTERA, TENEBRIONID^. 317 



flight. The body is generally oblong (^fig- 38. 8. Tenebrio molitor) 

 or ovate ; depressed, or but slightly elevated ; the thorax square or 

 trapeziform, and as broad behind as the base of the elytra ; the palpi 

 are enlarged at the tip ; the last joint being generally hatchet-shaped ; 

 the mentum is narrowed at the base {fig. 38. 12.), exposing the base 

 of the maxillae, of which the internal lobe is mostly unarmed {fig. 38. 

 11.; fig. 38. 9. labrum ; 38. 10. mandible ; and 38. 13. one of the 

 antennae of T. molitor. 



The insects of this family are much more widely dispersed than 

 those of the two following, many of the species being apparently 

 attendant upon mankind, as the various Ulomse, Tenebriones, &c., 

 which feed upon wheat and flour ; of these the beetle (Tenebrio 

 molitor Linn?), whose larva is known by the name of the meal worm, 

 is the most common, and may also be regarded as the type of the family. 

 This insect frequents bake-houses, corn-mills, granaries, &c., doing 

 much damage by devouring meal, bran, flour, kc. It is also very 

 destructive to ship-biscuits packed in casks, which when opened are 

 found eaten through in holes by these insects, and their larvae.* The 

 latter {fig. 38. 14.) are about an inch long, of a cylindrical and linear 

 form, very smooth and glossy, of a fulvous colour, consisting of twelve 

 segments, exclusive of the head, which is provided with short trophi, 

 {fig. 38. 15. maxillae and labium), and a pair of very small antennae ; 

 the first segment of the body is larger than the following ; the ter- 

 minal segment is semicircular, slightly serrated at the edges, and 

 terminates in a single point in the larva of Tenebrio molitor {fig. 38. 

 IG.). On its under surface, it is provided with a small anal pro'eg ; the 



Fischer. Ent. Russ. vol. ii. 



Perty. Del. An. art. Bras, and Obs. Coleopt. Ind. Orient. 



Griffith. An. Kingd. pt. Ins. 



Hope, in Trans. Entom. Soc. vol. i. 



Knoch. Newe Beitrage. 



Dal/nan. Annal. Entomol. 



Germar. Nov. Spec. Insect, p. 14G. 



Steven. Tentyrite et Opatra. INIem. Soc. Imp. Moscow, vol. vii. 



Besser. Addit. et Observ. in Tentyrias et Opatra, Mem. Soc. Imp. Mosc. t. viii. 



Lamarck. Annal. du Mus. d'llist. Nat. t. iii. (Chiroscclis. ) 



Olivier, Stephens, Gi/llcnhall, Fabricius, &c. 



See Joyeuse, On fVorms destroying Sca-Biscuits ; Dryander, liibl. Bunks. 5-14. 



