THE BEETLES 



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The Cleridce are generally brightly colored, of cylindrical form, with 

 the prothorax narrower than the elytra, the eyes notched in front, the antennae 

 either serrate, pectinate, or clavate, and the tarsi furnished underneath with mem- 

 branous lobes. Clerus formicarius is very abundant in pine forests, where it plays a 

 useful part in hunting for and devouring wood-boring beetles; while the larva is 

 still more active in following under the bark the larvae of various kinds which 

 are there to be met with. The second species figured ( Trichodes apiarius) hunts for 

 its prey on flowers, especially those of the UmbelUferee t and the larvae are found 

 in beehives, where they devour many of the young brood. 



The Ptinidce are all small insects, usually of a somewhat cylindrical form, 

 rounded at each end, and with the head retracted under a hood-like covering, 

 formed by the prothorax. They are obscurely colored and chiefly interesting on 

 account of their mischievous propensities. In the larval state Ptinus fur is very 

 destructive in herbaria, and natural history collections generally. The best known 

 of the Ptinidce are the deathwatch beetles of the genus Anobium, to which we have 

 already referred at the beginning of this chapter. These beetles seldom show them- 

 selves openly, so that to most people they are only known by the sounds they pro- 

 duce, or the holes with which the larvae riddle furniture and the woodwork of houses. 

 The holes with which old books are sometimes seen to be perforated are also made 

 by the larvae of a species of Anobium, which for this reason are known as bookworms. 



SECTION HETEROMERA 



The Heteromera are those beetles in which the tarsi of the fore- and middle- 

 legs are five jointed, those of the hind-legs being four jointed. The Tenebrionidce 

 exceed in number of species the rest of the Heteromera together. The antennae 

 are inserted under a projecting angle or ridge on each side of the head, and com- 

 posed of eleven or, ex- 

 ceptionally, ten joints, of 

 which the third is gen- 

 erally the longest; the 

 coxae of the front legs are 

 usually rounded, with their 

 sockets separated by a 

 fairly broad prosternal 

 process, and completely 

 closed in behind; and the 

 claws of all the tarsi are 

 simple. Many of the 

 obscurely colored species 

 are without wings, and 

 frequently have the elytra CHURCHYARD BEETLE AND LARVA (natural size). 



fused together. The 



churchyard beetles (Blaps} and the meal worm ( Tenebrio) are probably the best- 

 known members of the family. B. mucronata is the commonest species in England; 



