io THE ORDERS OF INSP1CTS. 



with on flowers. Some species inhabit the nests of ants, to 

 which they often bear a superficial resemblance themselves. One 

 of the largest and best known of the Staphylinidce is the Devil's 

 Coach-Horse, a large black insect with powerful jaws, and very 

 rapacious. If alarmed, it lifts up its head and tail, and it is 

 capable of inflicting a severe bite, which may be dangerous if 

 the insect has lately been feeding on any putrid substance. 



The species of Necrophorus (Burying Beetles) are black, with 

 red markings on the elytra. They feed on carrion ; and if they 

 meet with a mouse or bird, they dig a hole under it, and gradually 

 pull and stamp it down into the ground, covering it up with 

 earth. The female is buried with the carrion, in which she 

 deposits her eggs, and then makes her way up to the surface of 

 the ground again. Hister is a genus of small round beetles, of 

 a shining black colour, with red spots. Their antennae are 

 clubbed at the tip, as is likewise the case in Necrophorus. 

 Some smaller beetles allied to this, but of a more oval shape, 

 belonging to the family Dermestidcc^ are exceedingly destructive 

 to hams, skins, and other dried animal products, Dermestes 

 Lardarius and Anthrenus Musaorum having received their 

 names from their food, or the localities in which they are found. 



The largest water beetle found in England is Hydrous Piceus, 

 which is half as long again as a Dytiscus. It is of a shining black 

 colour, and is more convex and narrower than Dytiscus. 



The Scarab(zid(Z, or Chafers, may be known by their short 

 antennog, the terminal parts of which are expanded into broad 

 flat layers, which the insect can open or shut like a fan. All the 

 species feed either on plants or on the dung of animals. They 

 are large, broad, heavily formed insects, though some are very 

 active on the wing. The Rose Chafer (Cetonia Auratd) is a 

 bright green beetle, with whitish markings on the elytra. It 

 measures rather more than half an inch in length, and is nearly 

 as broad. It is often found nestling in roses, whence it derives 

 its name, but is just as frequently found upon thistle, elder, and 

 other flowers. 



The Cockchafer (Melolontha Vulgaris] is a larger insect. Its 

 larva feeds on the roots of plants, and is often very destructive 

 to grass-fields, whereas the perfect insect is equally destructive 

 to trees. The Cockchafer is brown, dusted with white in the 

 male, and the under surface is banded with black and white. 

 Several smaller species are similarly destructive to plants, one 

 of which (Phyllopcrtha Horticola) is called the "Buckwheat 

 Beetle " in Germany, where it swarms on the flowers of that 

 plant. But it is equally common and very destructive in 



