286 TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 
soil. They have different methods of life; and the larve and 
beetles differ in their habits. Some seek out and live in putre- 
fying bodies; others exist in living creatures ; and a few feed upon 
vegetable matters. This genus of beetles presents us with a 
THE METAMORPHOSES OF Svlpha guadripunctata, 
remarkable example of the existence of very different conditions 
of life in closely allied species. 
The larve of the carrion beetles are well advanced in de- 
velopment, and approach the adults in the perfection of their 
structures. They are very flat, and all the segments of the thorax 
and of the abdomen are covered with a hard integument. They 
have six eyes on each side of the head, and long and strong legs, 
which are furnished with spines, and they move with great ra- 
