COLEOPTERA. S 2 9 



spine as in Hydrophilus and Tropisternus, and the sternum 

 of the prothorax bears a keel-shaped projection. Our most 

 common species is Hydrocharis obtusatus (H. ob-tu-sa'tus) ; 

 this measures about five eighths of an inch in length. 



Some of the smaller species of this family are not aquatic, 

 but live in moist earth and in the dung of cattle, where, it 

 is said, they feed on dipterous larvae. 



Family PLATYPSYLLID^: (Plat-y-psyl'i-dae). 

 Tlie Beaver-parasite. 



Only a single representative of this family is known ; 

 this is Platypsylla castoris (Plat-y-psyl'la cas'to-ris), which 

 lives parasitically on the beaver. This beetle is about one 

 tenth of an inch in length ; the body is ovate, elongate, and 

 much flattened ; the wing-covers are short, about as long as 

 the prothorax, and leave five abdominal segments exposed ; 

 the eyes and wings are wanting. 



Specimens of this remarkable insect are most easily 

 obtained by beating over a sheet of paper the dried skins of 

 beavers, which can be found at fur-stores. 



The family LEPTINID^: (Lep-tin'i-dae) is represented by 

 only two species in North America. One of these is from 

 the Hudson Bay region ; the other, Leptinus testaceus (Lep- 

 ti'nus tes-ta'ce-us) lives with various small rodents and insec- 

 tivora, either on their bodies or in the material of their nests. 

 It can be distinguished by the characters given in the table 

 of families. 



1-Family SlLPHlD^: (Sil'phi-dae). 

 The Carrion-beetles. 



The carrion-beetles are mostly of medium or large size, 

 many species attaining the length of one and one half inches, 

 while the smaller species of the more typical genera are 

 nearly half an inch in length ; some members of the family, 

 however, are minute. The segments near the tip of the an- 



