OUR BEETLE FRIENDS 229 



Abbe Latreille, and that I am going to die at 

 Guyana, before having published my " Ex- 

 amen des Genres de Fabricius." ' Bory, on re- 

 ceiving this piece of news, took active steps, and 

 obtained leave for Latreille to come out of his 

 prison as a convalescent, his uncle Dayclas and 

 his father being bail for him, and pledging 

 themselves formally to deliver up the prisoner 

 the moment they were summoned to do so by the 

 authorities. The vessel which was to have con- 

 ducted Latreille to exile, or rather death, was 

 getting ready whilst these steps were being- 

 taken, and while Bory and Dayclas were obtain- 

 ing leave for him to come out of prison. This 

 was quite providential, for it foundered in sight 

 of Cordova, and the sailors alone were able 

 to save themselves. A little time afterwards 

 his friends managed to have his name scratched 

 out from the list of exiles. It is thus that 

 the Necrobia ruficollis was the saving of 

 Latreille." 



A very warlike and pugnacious beetle, 

 frequently to be met with in country lanes and 

 on garden paths, is the " Devil's-Coach-Horse " 

 (Ocypus olcns). It is a long, fairly slender beetle, 

 black in colour with the antennae tipped with 

 red. The wing-cases are very abbreviated, 

 looking almost like a little waistcoat on the back 

 of the long body, but beneath their shelter are 

 neatly folded a pair of membranous wings of 

 normal length. The beetle is carnivorous in its 

 habits, and very active in its search for prey. 

 When attacked or alarmed, the Devil's-Coach- 

 Horse Beetle has a very characteristic habit of 



