182 



THE ORDER OF OOLEOPTERA. 



[Fig. 91.J 



[Fig. 92.J 



insects and their larvae in the substance of 

 boteli or tree-fungi. The most remarkable 

 character of this family, as compared with 

 the Coleoptera in general, is the diminution 

 in the number of the joints of the tarsi, but KNSr^cHur 

 three joints being visible even in species of considerable 

 size, with a scarcely perceptible rudiment of another joint 

 at the base of the last ; all the joints except the last 

 being dilated and cushioned beneath, and the second 

 joint deeply bilobed. The antennae are usually longer than the head 

 and thorax combined, and with the two or three last joints slightly en- 

 larged. The thorax is almost square, and in most of the genera has a 

 wide thin margin, which is slightly turned upwards at the sides. 



A. Tarsi 3-jointed. Length from one to two-sixths of an inch. 

 B. Palpi clavate, thorax a little wider behind ; antennal club of three equal joints. . .Endomychus. 

 B B. Palpi cylindrical ; thorax a little narrower behind ; antennal club indistinct, the last joint 



somewhat dilated and compressed Lycopeedika . 



A A. Tarsi 4 or 5-jointed. Length less than one-sixth of an inch. 

 C. Thorax about square ; tarsi 4-jointed. 

 D. Anterior coxa3 contiguous Rhanis. 



D D. Coxffi separated by the prosternum ; antennal club enormously dilated in the males : 



Phymaphora 

 C C. Thorax wider than long ; size very small. 



E. Antennas U-jointed ; form oval ; body hairy MyceTj^a. 



E E. Antennae 10-jointed ; form globose; tarsi 5-jolnted Alexia. 



Endomyclms proper contains but one N. A. species which closely re- 

 sembles the E. coccineus of Europe. It is the E. bigidtattis, Say— one- 

 sixth of an inch long, black, with the elytra bright-red, with two black 

 spots on each, the larger one near the tip. Lycoperdina, Latr., derived 

 from Lycoperdon, a genus of fungi — contains many species which have 

 been divided into several genera, or sub-genera, by more recent authors. 

 The most common species is the L. vitatta, Fab., (or lineata, Olivier;) a 

 quarter of an inch long, with three broad stripes on the elytra, the mid- 

 dle one being common to both. The L. ferruginea, LeC, is a little 

 smaller, of a piceous or reddish-black color, with the head, legs and 

 margins of the thorax and elytra brownish-red. The other genera con- 

 tain but one or two species each. The two last genera are anomalous, 

 and do not strictly belong in this family. 



Tribe XXI. 



PLANT LOUSE BEETLES. 

 Trimera carnivora. Aphidipaga, Latreille. 



The rounded or hemispherical form of these insects, commonly known 

 by the name of lady-birds, and their dotted coloration, render them one 

 of the most easily recognized of all the families of Coleoptera. Their 



