182 PROTECTION AGAINST INSECTS. 



The larvae are found especially under moss, but the beetles* 

 chiefly in decomposing substances, such as fungi, dead leaves, 

 dung, carrion, etc. There are nearly 800 British species. 

 The largest species are: Ocypus olens, Mull, (the "Devil's 

 coach-horse "), Staphylinus caesareus, Cederh., Crcopldlus 

 maxillosus, L., etc. Larvae of small species of Stapliylinidae 

 occupy the galleries of bark beetles, and probably eat their 

 eggs and larvae. 



4. Silphidae. 



Beetles flattened oblong or oblong-oval, usually with 11-jointed 

 clubbed antennae ; thorax with a flattened side-margin ; anterior 

 coxae conical ; tarsi 5-jointed. Usually dull, black, and often 

 rugose or ribbed. 



Both the larvae, which have 6 legs, and the beetles live in 

 carrion and decomposing substances. Some genera, such as 

 Silpha, Fabr., attack insects. Silpha quadripunctata, L., lives 

 in summer on oak trees, and feeds on caterpillars, etc. It 

 has the margins of the thorax and' the elytra ochre-yellow, 

 the latter with two black spots on each. 



5. Nitidulidae. 



Beetles small, oval or oblong, with straight clubbed, 

 11-jointed antennae inserted under the frontal margin. 

 Tarsi short, usually with 5 joints. Abdomen with 5 6 

 segments. 



Larvae long, with projecting horny head and 6 legs. The 

 flattened genera, Rhizophagus, Hbst., and Pityophagus, Shuck., 

 which live under the bark of trees of both broad- leaved and 

 coniferous species, are regarded as enemies to bark-beetles. 



6. Colydiidae. 



Beetles small, thin, and long, with 8 11-jointed clubbed 

 antennae. Tarsi 4-jointed. Abdomen of 5, rarely of 6, seg- 

 ments, of which the first three or four are fused. Larvae 

 long, and sometimes with horny plates below ; 6-legged. 



The species of this family live in decaying wood, in fungi, 

 or under the bark of trees, and are predaceous. 



Colydimn elongatum, Fabr., locates itself in old oak trees, and 



