276 Sir John Lubbock ooi 



Unfortunately, we are acquainted with very few larvsB 

 either of the Nltidulidce or of the Brachelytra. Messrs. 

 Chapuis & Candeze, in their learned memoir on the larvas 

 of Coleoptera,* mention only three species in the whole 

 family Nitidulidce, the larvae of which are known to us. 

 Of these, one^ that of Epurea obsoleta, is described by 

 Bouchc,t but so shortly, that they do not think it worth 

 while to quote it; the second, Po6adnis ferrugineus, is 

 also described by Bouche,J but there is some doubt about 

 the identification. Consequently the larva of Nitidida 

 grt'sea is the only one which can really be said to be 

 known to us. 



Nor is our knowledge of the Brachelytrous larvae much 

 more complete. Out of the whole number, less than 

 twenty .are as yet known, so that Messrs. Chapuis and 

 Candeze say, *le nombi-e des larves de cette grande 

 famille decrites jusqu'a ce jour est tres peu de chose, ce 

 qui s'explique en partie par la difficulte qu'il y a a se les 

 procurer, et surtout a les cdhserver vivantes jusqu' a 

 leur entier developpement." \\ 



Under these circumstances it would not be safe to 

 rely too much on the characters afforded by the larva of 

 MicropepJus. Nevertheless the larvae of the Brachelytra 

 hitherto known are active, elongate, and provided with 

 two bi-articulate, mobile, anal appendages. They differ 

 therefore considerably from our larva, which is oval, 

 sluggish, and v/ithout the anal appendages. So far there- 

 fore, the larval characters would seem to tell in favour of 

 those who place Micropeplus among the Nitidulidce, 

 rather than among the Brachelytra. 



I have found it on the under-side of dead boughs. 

 The colour is light brown, the length about one-fifteenth 

 of an inch. The general outline of the body is oval. The 

 skin is granular. The lateral margins of the segments 

 are produced, and each bears at its extremity a curious 

 leafiike yellowish process. The posterior margin of each 

 segment is also armed with a row of thick spines, decreas- 

 ing in size towards the middle line ; these spines are, 

 with the exception of the outer ones, armed with lateral 



* Memoires de la Societe Eoyale des Sciences de Li^ge, 1853, vol. viii. 

 p. 347. 



t Naturg. der Insect. 1834, p. 188. 



X Ibid. 



II Mem. Soc. Koy. Sci. LiSge, viii. 395. 



