162 AMETABOLA. 



spots of different colours. Some of the species are very 

 peculiar in their forms. M. Leclerc de Laval informed 

 Latreille that he had discovered in the stomach bits of birds' 

 feathers, and hence he believed that this constituted their 

 food. De Geer, however, found the stomach of one of the 

 species filled with blood, with which it had gorged itself. 

 It is certain that they are able to live but a short time upon 

 dead birds, upon which they may be seen crawling, with an 

 evident desire of escaping. The family has found but few 

 authors who have taken any interest in its investigation. 

 Redi, however, long since figured many species in a rude 

 manner; and more recently we find, in the posthumous work 

 of Lyonnet, representations of many others. Dr. Nitzsch, 

 also, has published an elaborate monograph in the Magazin 

 d'Entomologie of Germar ; and J. G. Children, Esq., F.R.S., 

 has just published descriptions of some of the arctic species 

 brought home by Captain Back. 



