52 TtiE YOVNG COLLECTORS 



easily recognisable by two very obvious characters. The four 

 front tarsi are five-jointed as usual, but the hind tarsi are only 

 four-jointed. The antennae, too, consist of a series of nearly 

 round joints, thus resembling a string of beads. 



The family Blaptida only includes three British species, which 

 are found in cellars, stables, etc. We have 

 figured Blaps Mortisaga, which is the rarest ; 

 but the other species, B. Mucronata and B. 

 Similis, very much resemble it. All three 

 are black, wingless insects, with the elytra 

 soldered together at the suture, and im- 

 movable. Other species of Heteromera are 

 found in houses, such as Tenebrio Mollitor 

 (the Meal Worm), which is a black beetle, 

 about half an inch long, but winged, and 

 rather long and narrow ; it belongs to the 

 family Tenebrionida ; its larva feeds on flour, 

 etc. 



The PyrochroidcB are remarkable for their 

 bright reel or scarlet colour, although many 

 Qf ^ Haeromgra are very dingy in appear . 



ance. 



The Meloida, or Oil Beetles, are very strange-looking insects, 

 perfectly incapable of flight, having no wings, very short, soft 

 elytra, and very clumsy, bloated-looking bodies. They are 

 common in grassy places in spring, and their 

 larvas are parasitic in the nests of bees. They 

 are large, blue-black beetles. 



The Blister Beetle (Cantharis Vesica- 

 toria), belonging to the family Cantharida, 

 is a most brilliant green beetle, rather more 

 than half an inch in length. It is not 

 common in England, though sometimes 

 met with on ash and other trees. The 

 beetles used in medicine are brought from 

 South Europe, where they are abundant ; 

 and I have not seen any beetle which pre- 

 Blister Beetle sents so brilliant an appearance as this, 

 antharis Vesica- when the sun is shining on a tree on which 

 tona). Nat. Size. several of them are feeding. 



The next group of beetles is that of the Rkynckophora, or 

 Weevils. It is one of the most extensive, and its members may 

 be known immediately by the head being long and pointed in 

 front, forming a kind of beak, on each side of which the antennse 



