125 



horny at the anterior margin above. Six setous legs carried forward 

 close to the bod}-, the first pair bent closely to the head, the second 

 pair longer and straight, the third pair short. Stigmata 9, and very 

 difficult to detect. Head small, horny, rounded, rather darker than 

 the body; antenna) conspicuous, three-jointed; epistoma dark-brown, 

 not as wide as labrum, labrum dark-brown, rounded, covered and 

 fringed with stiff" hairs ; mandibles stout, jet black, triangular, edges 

 entire, maxilla? very small, with an elongated basal piece, and an 

 inner lobe covered with hair; maxillary palpi with two indistinct 

 joints ; labium iuconspicuous, with no palpi apparent. Length 0.30' 

 inch (Riley). 



Section II. HETEROMERA. 



This section, as heretofore stated, includes all of those species which 

 have the anterior and middle tarsi or feet five-jointed and the hind 

 pair four-jointed. It contains a number of small families, yet there 

 are but few of the species which trouble the agriculturist, and those 

 which we shall mention belong to the family Meloidse. 



Family MELOID.E. (Blistering-beetles.) 



The only species belonging to this family that are injurious to the 

 agriculturist are the well known potato-beetles, not the Colorado 

 potato-beetle which caused such alarm of late years, but the ash-col- 

 ored, black, and striped beetles. The species belonging to this family 

 are distinguished chiefly by the following characters : The head is 

 as wide as the thorax, which is narrower than the wing-cases; the 

 body is rather soft, and the wing-cases are thin and flexible ; the claws 

 of the feet are deeeply cleft. 



The larva? usually reside in the nests of various kinds of bees, es- 

 specially those of humble bees; they appear to be parasitic upon the 

 bodies of the young bees. But those of the following species, accord- 

 ing to Riley, reside in the ground and feed upon various roots. 



It is only in the perfect state that they are injurious to vegetation. 



Epicauta vittata. Fab. (Lytta vittata). Striped Potato Beetle. 



[Fig. 14.] This well known species, which varies in length from 

 »half to two-thirds of an inch, is elongate and slender in 

 form and sub-cylindrical, differing very materially in this 

 respect from the Colorado potato beetle. The thorax is nar- 

 rower than the wing cases or abdomen, it tapers forward,, 

 so that it is distinctly narrower in front than the head; it 

 is rather longer than wide. The elytra are about twice as 

 wide at the shoulders as the thorax, round at the tips. 

 Length of the insect about three times its greatest width. 

 It is of a dull orange or reddish yellow color above, with two black 

 spots on the head, two black stripes on the thorax, and two black 



