356 CLAVicoRNiA. [Dermestidie. 



of the body is furnished with a more or less elongate tuft of hairs, 

 which is sometimes as long as, or longer than, the whole abdomen. 



In the European catalogue the Dermestidae are represented by nine 

 genera, containing about eighty species ; of these five genera, containing 

 sixteen species, occur in Britain j the genera may be distinguished as 

 follows : — 



T. Head without frontal ocellus ; prosternuni without process 



behind anterior co.xse Dermkstks, L. 



II. Hertd with a distinct frontttl ocellus; prosternum with 

 process behind anterior coxse. 

 i. Form oblong ; posterior coxse contiguous. 



1. Mesosternum narrow ; intermediate coxae not widely 



separated. 



A. First joint of tarsi shorter than second ; pro- 

 sternum not lobed in front Attagenui?, Latr. 



B. First joint of tarsi twice as long as second ; pro- 

 sternum lobed in front Megatoma, Rerlsf. 



2. Mesosternum rather broad ; intermediate coxae widely 



separated Tieesias, Steph. 



ii. Form short, round or very short oval; posterior coxaa 

 not contiguous. 



1. Body squaniose ; head with deep antenna] grooves 



beneath Antheentts, Oeoff. 



2. Body covered with upright bristly hairs ; head with- 

 out aiitennal grooves Teinobes, Latr, 



SERMHSTSS, Linne. 



This genus contains more than fifty species, w^hich are widely dis- 

 tributed, occurring in cold climates like Siberia and tropical countries 

 such as Brazil ; several, as has been remarked before, are cosmopolitan, 

 having been carried from one part of the world to another in articles 

 of commerce ; although the larvse commit great ravages and do a vast 

 amount of injury, yet it must be remembered that, like the maggot of 

 the common fiesh-fly, they are in reality scavengers, and remove a great 

 deal of animal matter that would otherwise be deleterious to life ; they 

 are certainly the oldest larvse known, a large number of them haviug 

 been discovered in the interior of Egyptian mummies under circum- 

 stances that seem to show that they had found their way into the body 

 previous to embalment {v. Westwood, Classific. i. 157, note). 



The larvse of several species of Dermestes have been described and figured by 

 various authors ; that of 2). tindvlatus will be found on Plate iii. fig. 1 of Chapuis et 

 Candeze, Larves des Coleopteres, and Westwood has figured that of 2). larclat-ius. I.e. 

 p. 156, Phite 14, f. 9 ; the body is elongate and gradually n ivrowed towards the 

 tip, and terminates in two short corneous cerci and a conical anal appendage ; the 

 upper surface is very hairy, the hairs under a high magnifying power appearing 

 branched ; the colour is brownish, or reddish-brown. Twenty-two sj)ecii's of Der- 

 mestes are found in Europe, of which five occur in Britain. 



