Eucnemis capucina and its larva. 301 



I tliink, was certainly erroneous. On the terminal 

 segment there exists a larger cuticiilar cavity smToundecl 

 by some asperities, in the middle of which there is a 

 minute longitudinal depression or orifice, which is 

 probably the anal aperture. 



Very few larv?e of the Eiicnaiiidce are as yet known. 

 Schiodte, whose beautiful works on the larvae of Coleoptera 

 are amongst the most important and fascinating of 

 recent additions to Coleopterological science, was ac- 

 quainted only with one, viz., that of j\Iclasis huprestoides, 

 a species which is one of the least characteristic of the 

 family or subfamily ; this larva Schiodte classified 

 amongst the Elateridce, all of which he considered to be 

 carnivorous. This generalisation has been, however, 

 disputed by Perris in the case of Melasis huprestoides 

 (' Bonv. Eucnemides,' pp. 40, 41) ; while, on the other 

 hand, Osten-Sacken, as quoted by Perris, considers the 

 larvae of Fornax to be probably carnivorous. As regards 

 these larvae I have no knowledge whatever ; but as 

 regards the larvae of Eucnemis capucina I can say with 

 certainty that they are not truly carnivorous. As I have 

 previously remarked, they live in burrows in very damp 

 decayed wood ; these burrows are exactly of the diameter 

 of the larvae, and there were no other insects in them for 

 the larvae to feed on. I have little doubt that the larva 

 obtains its nutriment by imbibition of the juices amongst 

 which it lives, and think it highly probable that it 

 imbibes them by means of a suctorial apparatus placed 

 inside the head, and I should not be at all surprised if 

 it should ultimately be discovered that the papillary 

 patches or cuticular cavities are supplementary organs 

 of nutrition. 



The larva of Eucnemis capucina has certainly the 

 capacity of comminuting the decayed wet wood in which 

 it lives, and I presume that it makes its burrows by a 

 process of this kind, though I have not been able to 

 observe how it does it ; it is exceedingly slow in all its 

 movements, and I think it is most probably by twisting 

 and pushing a little with its head that it makes its 

 burrows ; the peculiar very hard saw-like teeth with 

 which the whole front margin of the head is armed 

 appear admirably adapted for this purpose. 



I only found larvae in the sappy or damp wood in the 

 interior of the tree ; the outer wood was dry and 



TRANS. ENT. SOC. LOND. 188G. PART III. (OCT.) Y 



