CELLAR BEETLES AND MEAL WORMS 33 



The Heteromera are a remarkable set of insects, more 

 fully represented in tropical countries than in our own 

 islands. We possess less than 120 species, and these 

 do not all rightfully belong to us ; but even this small 

 number includes insects of such diverse habits and struc- 

 ture as to necessitate their subdivision into nearly sixty 

 genera. The economy of some, too such as the fami- 

 liar oil-beetle is more wonderful than that of any other 

 Coleopteron whatever. 



Our first example from this group is the insect known 

 to science as Blaps mucronata (Fig. 14), and popularly 



FIG. 14. Blaps mucronata. A, side view of elytra. 



called the "Churchyard Beetle" and "Cellar Beetle." 

 It is utterly unlike any other British insect, except 

 the other two members of its own genus, and these it 

 resembles so closely as to be with difficulty distinguish- 

 able from them. It is a dull-black creature, nearly an 

 inch in length, with long, straggling legs, and without 

 wings, though the wing-covers, or elytra, are even more 

 largely developed than usual. These cannot, however, 

 be opened, and are, indeed, actually fastened together 

 " soldered " is the technical term along their central 



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