3ioo THE JOINTED ANIMALS 



threatening jaws and upturned tail as if ready to accept the challenge. This species 

 which, with a few others, is represented in the figure, is scientifically known as 

 Ocypus olens, and is one of the largest of the rove beetles. Its habit of turning up 

 the tip of the abdomen is not peculiar to it, but is common to nearly all the beetles 

 of the family, which on that account are sometimes called cocktail beetles. 



We come now to a series of small families, forming the group known as the 

 Clavicornia or Necrophaga. This group, ^however, rests on no true scientific basis, 

 and is more or less artificial in its character. Most of the species included in the 

 group feed upon decaying animal or vegetable matter, hence the name Necrophaga. 

 The antennae exhibit in general a tendency to be thickened toward the tip, and in 

 many cases the last three joints form a distinct club; but in some of the families 

 antennae of quite another shape are to be found. Though usually five jointed, the 

 tarsi display in the number of their joints almost every variation met with in the 

 Coleoptera. 



The family of Paussidcz includes probably less than two hundred known species, 

 the majority of which have been discovered in the tropics of Asia and Africa, though 

 one species ( Paussus favieri ) occurs in the southwest of Europe. They are mostly 

 reddish-brown insects, of rather small size, oblong form, and in general appearance 

 little attractive, were it not for the extraordinary shapes of their antennae. 

 These organs are generally very broad and flat, in some species resembling a 

 paper knife in shape; the number of joints varies from ten to two, and the last 

 joint frequently has a bulbous or discoidal form. So far as at present known, all 

 the species live in ants' nests, and, unless sought for in these situations, they are 

 rarely seen except at night when they occasionally fly into rooms, attracted by the 

 light from the lamps. 



The tiny beetles belonging to the Pselaphidcz resemble the Paussida in exhibit- 

 ing certain anomalies in their structure, and their lives are passed in similar obscure 

 situations. But while the Paussidce may possibly be related to the Carabidce, the 

 very short elytra of the Pselaphidce, and the entirely horny nature of the dorsal 

 plates of the abdomen seem to indicate an affinity with the Staphylinidce. In other 

 points of structure, however, these two families are different. In the Pselaphida: 

 the lobes of the maxillae are soft and membranous; and the abdomen, which in one 

 group (the Clavigerince} is composed of five segments, with the basal rings fused 

 together, is quite incapable of the movements so characteristic of the rove beetles. 

 The joints of the antennae vary in number from eleven to six, or even two, and are 

 in most cases clubbed at the end. While in one division of the family the palpi are 

 usually composed of three or four joints, and are long and conspicuous, in the other 

 "they are one jointed and scarcely visible. The tarsi are three jointed, the first and 

 second joints often very short, while the third is long and in many cases bears only a 

 single claw. The Pselaphidce are distributed throughout most parts of the world. 

 They are to be found under stones, moss, dead leaves, and other vegetable refuse, 

 as well as under the bark of trees, and in damp marshy situations; but the most 

 interesting species are those which live in ants' nests. They are all of small size. 

 The genus Claviger, comprising about eighteen European and one or two Asiatic 

 species, has six-jointed antennae, and is further remarkable for the fact that the long 



