288 TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 
hills and manure-heaps; whilst a few are found upon dead 
bodies. Mushrooms of all kinds are the favourite diet of a 
number of species, and rotten wood and all sorts of vegetable 
and animal remains are enjoyed by a great number of them. 
The Staphylinide, with their plain legs and antenne, are 
He 
Hie 
ine Ki 
THE METAMORPHOSIS OF Staphylinus olens. 
evidently more simply organised than the S7/hid@ and the Sca- 
rabeide ; but their larve are born much more fully developed 
than are those of this last family. The larvee of the Staphylinide 
are partly covered with a hard integument, and are very active, 
and recall the adult forms, not only by their shapes but by their 
peculiar attitudes. The largest of the Staphyiinide have very 
