238 



FAMILY TENEBRIONIDAE 



TRIBOLIUM. 



A genus of small beetles found feeding on dying and dead wood and 

 bark and other materials, and on dried insects, etc. 



Tribolium ferrugineum, Fabr. 



REFERENCE. Fabr. Spec. Ins. i, 324 (1781). 



Habitat. North-West Provinces. 



Tree Infested. Sal (Shorea robusta}. Dehra Dun. 



Beetle. Elongate, narrow, flat. Light brown, moderately 

 shining ; under-surface and legs the same colour. Head flat, 



prominent ; the elytra short, thickest 

 Description. apically. Prothorax broader than head, 



wider than long ; sides rounded, mode- 

 rately convex ; punctate. Elytra striate-punctate, the striae most 

 prominent on lateral half ; apices conjointly rounded. Under- 

 surface finely punctate, shining. Length, 5 mm. to 7 mm. 



FIG. 163. 

 Tribolium ferru- 

 gineum, Fabr. 



I bred out this insect from sal logs brought by myself from Goalpara 



in Assam. These logs were cut from green trees in May 



Life History. 1906, and beetles were obtained in Dehra on the I3th 



(and successive days) of November 1907. It is probable 



that the eggs from which these insects were reared were laid in the logs 



whilst in the store depot of the museum at Dehra. The larvae feed in the 



decaying bark, and are perhaps semi-predaceous upon insect grubs. 



Tribolium confusum, J. du Val. 



REFERENCE. J. du Val, Gen. Col. d'Eur. Cat. p. 181, nota i (1866). 



Habitat. Siwaliks, North India. 



Tree Infested. bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus). 

 The Dun forests, Siwaliks. 



Beetle. Larger \haaferrugineum. Dark brown in colour, the 

 elytra moderately shining. Prothorax wider than long, highly and 



uniformly punctate ; a narrow depression 



Description. on each side near basal margin. Elytra 



constricted apically, the apices conjointly 



rounded ; moderately striate-punctate, the striae less well marked 

 than in ferrugineum. Under-surface dull, punctate. Length, 

 5 mm. to 8 mm. 



FIG. 164. 

 Tribolium confusum, 

 Siwaliks. 



J. du Val. 



I have obtained specimens of this beetle from drying and dead bamboos 



cut in the Siwaliks. The bamboos were attacked by 



Life History. Dinoderus pilifrons, and this beetle and the Tribal i it in 



were bred out together. The grubs are not improbably 



predaceous or semi-predaceous on the bostrychid. They are also predaceous 



upon the grubs of Caryoborus sp., which infests the seeds of A Ibizzia lebbek 



(vide p. 252). 



