COLEOPTERA POLYMORPHA. 



729 



Fam, 26. Histeridae. Compact, hard, beetles. Antennae short, el- 

 bowed and clubbed. Elytra very frequently with clear-cut striae, cut off 

 behind, leaving two abdominal terga exposed. Tarsi with five segments. 

 This is a moderate-sized family, the members of which are found in dung, 

 carcasses, or amongst decaying vegetation, and in ant-heaps. The larvae 

 are elongate, soft, but with well-developed mandibles and short legs. 

 Both larvae and images are said to live on Dipterous and other maggots. 



Fam. 27. Phalacridae. Compact beetles. Elytra cover abdomen. 

 Antennae slightly clubbed, with eleven segments. Pronotum as broad as 

 base of elytra, and overhanging the head. A small widely distributed 

 family of small beetles. The larvae frequent the inflorescences of Com- 

 posites and pupate in earthern cocoons. 



Fam. 28. Nitidulidae. Antennae with eleven segments the last three 

 of which form a club. The coxae of all the legs separated, and each with 

 an outer prolongation. Tarsi with five segments, the fourth small. A 

 moderately large and diverse assemblage of small beetles which inhabit 

 flowers, vegetable refuse and carcasses. Some live under bark, eating 

 the larvae' of wood-boring insects. The genera Meligethes and Epuraea 

 are abundant in Britain and some of the former injure rape crops. 



Fam. 29. Trogositidae. Antennae with an asymmetrical club. Five- 

 .segmented tarsi, the first segment much reduced. Coxae of metathoracic 

 legs in contact. A small but widely dis- 

 tributed family with predaceous larvae 

 that feed on other insect larvae. They 

 live under bark, amongst corn, etc. 

 Trogosita is cosmopolitan. 



Fam. 30. Colydiidae. Antennae short 

 and clubbed. Tarsi with four segments. 

 Pro- and meso-thoracic coxae round and 

 sunk in body. Five visible abdominal 

 sterna with little mobility. The mem- 

 bers of this family lodge in the cracks of 

 the bark of moss-grown trees, often lead- 

 ing very sedentary lives ; many are said 

 to be disappearing with the destruction 

 of the primeval forests. Bitoma is British. 



Fam. 31. Rhysodidae. Tarsi with 

 four segments. A large mentum hides 



the mouth-parts. Front tibia notched. A very small family found mostly 

 in the tropics and sub-tropics. 



Fam. 32. Cucujidae. Antennae eleven-segmented, rarely clubbed. 

 Pronotum often toothed laterally. Tarsi with four or five segments. 

 Anterior and middle coxae globular and imbedded. A large family of 

 insects of somewhat flattened, oblong shape, usually found under bark. 

 Silvanus surinamensis however lives amongst grain. They are most 

 abundant in warm climates. 



Fam. 33. Cryptophagidae. Differ from the preceding in having large 

 terminal segments to their antennae. Tarsi five-segmented, but a few species 

 have only four segments in the posterior legs of the male. A small family 

 of minute beetles said to eat mould ; they live all over the world but are 

 more numerous in temperate than in hot climates. They usually frequent 

 vegetable debris, but the larvae of Antherophagus lives in humble-bee 

 nests, and those of Cryptophagus in the nests of wasps. 



FIG. 464. Bitoma crenata (Coly- 

 diidae) Britain. A larva (after 

 Ferris) ; B perfect insect. 



