60 



INSECTS ABROAD. 



if we may so call them, is soft, dull, dead black, very much like 

 that of our common Hat Silpha Beetles. The outer edges 



of the elytra are flattened, 

 highly polished, and fur- 

 nished with large and deep 

 punctures. 



The name Homalosoma 

 signifies " similar bodied," 

 and is given to the insect 

 because its whole body is 

 entirely black, without any 

 admixture of colour, such 

 as a green or coppery edge 

 to the elytra. The specific name Vigorsii is of course given 

 in honour of the well-known zoologist. The insect is a native 

 of New Holland. 



Fig. 24. — Homalosoma Vigorsii. 

 (Black.) 



Our last example of the great family of the Carabidne 

 belongs to the tribe of Bembidiides. The insects belonging 

 to this group are small, and many of them aie brilliantly 

 coloured. They can at once be distinguished from the other 

 Carabidae by the structure of the palpi, both pairs of which have 

 the last joint pointed, and so small that a magnifier of some 

 power is required to show it, 

 even in the largest species. 

 The tibiae of the front legs are 



Fio. 25. — Pselaphanax setosua. 

 i ddish brown.) 



notched on the inside near 

 the tip. 



They are semi-aquatic in their 

 habits, some preferring the sea 

 iiiid others the fresh water. In 

 our own country, plenty of them 

 may be obtained under the hillocks of seaweed which are flung 

 ashore by the waves during a storm, and are left to peaceful 

 decay and to be the home of sand-hoppers and other shore-loving 

 creatures. FA r en on those coasts which afford easy access inland, 

 and where in consequence the seaweed bus scarcely had time 

 to settle on the beach before it is carted into the fields for 

 manure, the Bembidiidse may be taken in numbers, simply by 

 following tlic men who carry off the seaweed, and in so doing 



