498 



THE INSECT WORLD. 



together, and they have no wings. The vulgar regard them as an 

 omen of ill-luck. Fig. 541 represents the Blaps obtusa. According 

 to the report of a traveller, the women in Egypt eat the Blaps 

 sulcata cooked with butter, to make them fat. They are employed 

 also for ear-ache, the bite of scorpions, &c. 



Another genus of the same familly is the Tenebrio (Fig. 542), of a 

 blackish-brown, with the elytra striated, and of half an inch in length. 



Fig 537 — Manticora tuberculata. 



Fig. 538. — Pogonostoma gracilis. 



The larvae, the well-known meal-worms, live in flour ; they are 

 cylindrical, and of a light tawny colour (Fig. 542). The insect which 

 is considered as a type of the tribe of the Pitnelides is the Fimelia 

 bipu7ictata, which is common in the south of France. 



We come now to the tribe of blistering beetles, of which the best 

 known is the Cantharides {Cantharis or Lytta). These insects are 

 generally of soft consistency, and their elytra very flexible. A few 



