468 THE INSECT WORLD. 



When seized, they disgorge a blackish liquid. They introduce them- 

 selves under the skin of the carcases of animals, and devour their 



Fig, 451. Dorcus Titan. 



flesh to the very bone. The larvae, flat and serrated, live like the 

 adults, in carrion. The commonest species is the Silpha obscura, of 

 an intense black, delicately dotted. Two species found in England 

 and in the environs of Paris, Silplia quadripunctata and the Silpha 



