4 STArHYLINIDiB. 



by tlie casts of earth wliich they throw up ; some species are only found 

 ou the coast close to or even considerably below high water-mark (as 

 Di(jlossa, Phytusus, Micralymma, &c.) ; it is probable, however, that all 

 these species are at least in part dependent for their subsistence on the 

 various insects, larvre, pup;e, or ova which they find in the dun;^, dead 

 birds, fungi, flowers, &c., which they frequent, although no doubt they 

 obtain a portion of their sustenance from the substances in which they 

 take up their abode. 



A considerable number of species are found in ants' nests ; some of these 

 evidently exude a fluid like Claviger and the Aphides, which is devoured 

 l;y the ants ; among these are Lomeclmsa and Atemeles ; it is possible, 

 too, that some of them may act as scavengers of the nests ; it would 

 seem, however, that their presence is not always a benefit to their hosts ; 

 Myrniedonia collaris, at all events, has been observed to destroy ants : it 

 is, however, quite possible that they were either strangers or feeble and 

 sickly individuals, in which case the beetle would only be carrying out 

 its proper duties ; it may, too, be noticed in passing, that M. collaris is 

 considered by some authorities to be a non-myrmecophilous beetle ; if 

 such is the case its carnivorous propensities need no explanation, as its 

 presence among the ants it destroyed might have been merely the result 

 of accident. 



As a rule the colours of the Staphylinidte are sombre, but some species 

 are exceedingly handsome ; many have brilliant red elytra ; others are of 

 a Ijiight testaceous-red colour with black spots or abdominal rings, 

 while others again are cyaneous with or without orange spots on the 

 elytra : the pubescence as a rule is delicate, but occasionally (as in Emus 

 and Cre(ij)hilas) it is very conspicuous. 



In habits the members of the family are very active, and run and fly 

 with great swiftness, the wings being much more ample than might be 

 judged from the size of the elytra ; some few, however, are rather slow 

 in tlieir movements, especially among the latter tribes, such as the Oxy- 

 telina, Proteinina, &c. ; certain species have the power of exhaling a 

 stroii'^f and disagreeable odour, sometimes resembling the smell of rotten 

 ai)i)les, sometimes the smothering smell of a candle that has just been blown 

 out, while others exude from their mouth a slightly corrosive liquid ; a 

 few .species, like Ocypusolens, curl up their hind body and open their jaws, 

 and thus assume a terrifying attitude, like the genus Broscus among the 

 Carubidie, Avhile a considerable numljer (such as Xantliolinus, Gyro- 

 pliicna, &c.) roll themselves up into the smallest compass possible, and 

 remain motionless until the danger has passed. 



It has been stated above that in point of numbers the family Staphy- 

 linidte probably exceeds all other famiUes of the Coleoptera. In the 

 Munich catalogue ofGemminger and Von Harobl (vol. ii., 1868) over 4000 

 species are enumerated, and in the supplement issued by M. Duvivier 

 in 1883 between 2000 and 3000 more are added. Within the last 

 three or four years a great many new species have been described by Dr. 



