GEODEPHAGA. 45 



ditions, one will often be apterous and the other winged : 

 as a rule, the former may be- known by the sloping 

 shoulders and flattened upper surface of its wing-cases. 



Such species as live under bark or in the cracks of 

 dried mud or cliffs are very thin and flat; others fre- 

 quenting plants (in pursuit of vegetable-feeding insects), 

 have their tarsi widened and adapted for climbing; 

 some, again, whose life is passed in wet sands, are nar- 

 row, cylindrical and smooth, with strongly toothed and 

 widened front legs for burrowing; briefly, nature in 

 all has fitted the instrument for the purpose in a degree 

 more or less evident to our limited perceptions. 



Most of the active day-feeding species are metallic, 

 shining and brightly coloured, some also being prettily 

 banded or spotted ; a few are clothed with scales or 

 scanty hairs, but the majority have plain suits of ar- 

 mour, more or less polished, and in some cases elegantly 

 sculptured longitudinally : the prevailing tints are, how- 

 ever, black, dark brown, obscure red and dull green, 

 with occasional metallic reflections. 



For detailed English descriptions of the species of 

 this section found in our islands, the student must re- 

 fer to Dawson's 'Geodephaga Britannica' (1854, Van 

 Voorst) , and notices of those added since that work will 

 be found in the ( Entomologist's Annuals ' (Van Voorst) 

 for the subsequent years. 



There are descriptions (in Latin and German) of most 

 of the North European species in Dr. Schaum's ' Cara- 

 bici/ forming part of the ' Insecten Deutschlands;' and 

 also in the beginning portions of the other works al- 

 luded to at p. 30. 



The larvae of the Geodephaga are but little known; 

 they are, however, mostly found in the same places as 



