NECRODES NEGUNDO. 



313 



or hatchet-shaped joint, and < the thorax has no ante- 

 rior transverse impression. These are small gaily- 

 coloured beetles, found chiefly in the neighbourhood 

 of decaying heaps of bones: they creep slowly, but fly 

 with agility. There are three British species, in- 

 cluding the J\ r . nificollu (Olivier), which is of a violet- 

 blue colour, with the thorax, base of the elytra, and 

 legs red. This insect is widely distributed, being 

 found throughout the Old World from the west of 

 Europe to the East Indies ; a peculiarity doubtless 

 attendant upon its natural habits. This insect is 

 especially worthy of the regard of entomologists 

 from its having been the means of saving the valu- 

 able life of Lati eille. During the sanguinary period of 

 the first French revolution, when " la fanatisme re- 

 volutionnaire," as Latreille himself had the boldness 

 to style it, was at its height, this good man, as his 

 writings fully justify us in styling him, was thrown 

 into prison, and doomed to an inevitable death. In 

 his prison he discovered one of these insects, which 

 he sent to a young friend of talent, who made use of 

 this simple circumstance as a proof of his disregard 

 of political feelings, and obtained his release through 

 the medium of M. Dargelas, of whom, as well as the 

 former (M. Bory de Saint Vincent), he has, on many 

 occasions, spoken with gratitude in his various works. 



NECRODES (Wilkin). A genus of coleopte- 

 rous insects, belonging to the section Pentamcra, and 

 family SilpMdce, having the hind legs thickened and 

 bent, especially in the males ; the body is oblong-de- 

 pressed ; the thorax sub-orbicular ; the antennae longer 

 than the head, terminated by a five-jointed club. 

 There are several species of this genus found in dif- 

 ferent parts of the world ; one of which is not of 

 uncommon occurrence in this country, feeding on 

 carrion washed on the banks of rivers. It is the 

 Silpha littoralis (Fabricius), and is subject to consi- 

 derable variation in size and in the form of the hind 

 legs. Dr. Leach has named one of these varieties 

 N. CurtisiL 



NECROPHORUS (Fabricius). A genus of large 

 and handsome coleopterous insects, belonging to the 

 family Silphidce, having the body of an oblong form ; 

 the antennae terminated by a distinct perfoliated 

 mass, not longer than the head ; the thorax broadest 

 in front, the elytra truncate behind, and the anterior 

 tarsi dilated in the males. These insects have ob- 

 tained the name of burying-beetles, from the peculiar 



instinct which they exhibit of burying the dead bodies 

 of small animals, such as mole?, mice, frogs, &c., as a 

 receptacle for their eggs and larvae. Their powers 

 of perception are very strong, and it is surprising how 

 soon they discover a dead body fitted for their pur- 

 pose, round which they may be observed flying with 

 the elytra elevated, their dorsal surfaces being ap- 

 plied together. They soon creep beneath the body, 

 and commence scratching up the earth from the sides 

 and under the animal, which, by degrees, descends 

 into the pit which is thus gradually deepened ; when 

 it has reached a sufficient depth the earth is thrown 

 over it, and, the insect deposits its egg upon the car- 



cass, so that the larva, when hatched, finds itself in 

 the midst of a repast, disgusting enough, but suited to 

 its taste. The larva is long, of a dirty white colour, 

 with the upper surface of the anterior segments armed 

 with a scaly plate of a brown colour, and with small 

 elevated points upon the hinder segments. They 

 have also six scaly legs, and the jaws are robust. 

 When they have attained their full size they bury 

 themselves still deeper into the earth, where they 

 construct an oval cell, the inner surface of which they 

 coat with a gummy secretion. These insects, like 

 many others which feed upon carrion, have a strong 

 odour like musk. The habits of these insects have 

 been especially studied by M. Gleditsch, and more 

 recently by various persons in France who have written 

 upon the subject of destroying moles, and by whom 

 various points in their economy have been elucidated. 



There are a considerable number of species of this 

 genus, some of the largest of which, N. grandis (Fa- 

 bricius), we have received in some numbers from 

 North America. There are seven British species, 

 five of which are distinguished by the golden-coloured 

 bands upon the elytra ; these species vary amongst, 

 themselves in the form of the thorax, the structure of 

 the hind legs, the markings on the elytra, and the 

 colours of the club of the antennae. One of the most 

 common species is the Silpha vespillo (Linnaeus), in 

 which the posterior tibiae are curved, and the tro- 

 chanters furnished with a strong spine. The species 

 vary also in length, from half an inch to one inch and 

 a third, which is the length of N.germamcus, the 

 largest and rarest of the British species. 



NECTARINE is the Persica Icevis of Decan- 

 dolle, a subvariety of the common peach ; the only 

 difference being that, whereas the skin of the latter is 

 downy, that of the nectarine is smooth. In fact, they 

 are frequently found on the same tree ; so that there 

 can be no reason for making those fruits distinct 

 species. They are both cultivated and propagated in 

 the same manner, and are both deservedly esteemed 

 as among 1 the finest of our exotic fruits. 



NECTOPODA is De Blainville's first family of 

 the fifth order Neucleobranchiata, second order Poly- 

 branchiata, second class Paracephalophora. The ani- 

 mals of this family may generally be described as 

 possessing an abdominal foot, compressed into a 

 rounded swimming appendage. The genera Ptero- 

 trachea and Carinaria constitute the family. 



NECYDALIS (Linnaeus ; MOLORCHUS, Fabricius). 

 A genus of coleopterous insects, belonging to the 

 section Tetramcra, and family Cerambycidte, in which 

 the elytra are short and truncated at the tips, covering 

 only the base of the abdomen and wings. Linnaeus, in- 

 deed, introduced into the genus other species, in which 

 the elytra do not meet in a straight suture down the 

 back, but are of an elongated conical form ; but, ex- 

 cept in this particular, there is no relation between 

 these insects. The antennae are long, and the femora 

 thickened at the tips. These insects are found upon 

 flowers, and upon the trunks of trees. From the 

 introduction of other species by Linnaeus into the 

 genus, some confusion has arisen in the application of 

 the name which is applied by the French to the 

 longicorn species, which Fabricius (followed by Eng- 

 lish authors) called Molorchus, and applied the name 

 of Necydalis to the CEdemerce of the French. 



NEGUNDO (Moench). A genus of North Ame- 

 rican trees, belonging to the natural order Acerinete. 

 They were considered by Linnaeus as maples, and he 



