APPENDIX I 



445 



FIG. 23. 

 Silpha lapponica. 



The next beetle which is shown (Silpha lapponica Hbst., Fig. 23) 

 belongs to a family whose members are scavengers feeding on decay- 

 ing animal matter. This beetle is very common in Labrador 

 living, no doubt, on dead fish. As seen in the illustration, it is 

 rather a square-shaped beetle, black, covered 

 with a yellowish pubescence. It is about 

 five-eighths of an inch long. The wing cases 

 are covered with very prominent small tu- 

 bercles arranged in rows; the antennae, or 

 feelers, are thickened at the end as in other 

 allied forms. Silpha lapponica occurs nearly 

 everywhere in North America except in the 

 southeastern states. It is an inhabitant of 

 Europe also, but there it is confined to the 

 Arctic regions. 



In general the Arctic species are more in- 

 clined to extend toward the temperate 

 climates to the south, here in America, than 

 in Europe. The northerly and southerly di- 

 rection of our American mountain ranges 

 enables the insect forms of the two climates to maintain a geograph- 

 ical connection and specific identity. In Europe, the mountains 

 running from east to west have tended to form a definite boundary 

 for both Arctic and southern species, so that there the allied forms 

 of the two regions have either remained distinct or become so, 

 through separation from one another. This interesting fact was 

 pointed out by Mr. Schwarz some years ago. 



Another Labrador beetle quite generally distributed in Europe, 

 Asia, and America, through commerce, is the "bacon beetle" 

 (Dermestes lardarius Linn. , Fig. 24) . The beetle 

 is about one-third of an inch long and brown- 

 ish black, with a yellow band extending across 

 the front of the wing cases. Its larva lives on 

 preserved animal food products, such as hams, 

 bacon, old cheese, and in dried skins, hair, etc. 

 The last two of Mr. Joutel's figures represent 

 two members of the family Cerambycidse. 

 Both of these beetles are quite large, and have 

 very long antennae, or feelers, like the other 

 species of this family. 



Criocephalus agrestis Kirby (Fig. 25) is a 

 long, narrow, brownish beetle varying consid- 

 erably in size, with two or three curious depres- 

 sions in the thorax, and two longitudinal ridges extending along 

 each wing case. The species is found generally in the northern 



FIG. 24. 



Dermestes lardarius. 



