86 COMMON BRITISH INSECTS. 



determining species, and to trust to the number of 

 notches in the tibiae of the first pair of legs. 



This species is variable in colour, being blue- 

 black, violet, or dark green-blue, over which is a 

 sort of brassy gloss. It seldom exceeds the twelfth 

 of an inch in length, and is a very good ex- 

 ample of its genus. It is plentiful throughout Eng- 

 land. 



STILL keeping to the same family, we take another 

 of the sub-families, the Ipsina, which have the front of 

 the head lengthened and covering the labrum, the 

 fourth joint of the tarsus being very minute. Our 

 first example of these insects is RhizopJiagus Jerru- 

 gineuS) a fairly plentiful species. These Beetles have 

 much narrower bodies than the preceding, the antennae 

 are short and boldly clubbed, with a large basal joint. 

 The head is not sunk in the thorax, and the elytra 

 are not so long as the abdomen. They are mostly to 

 be found under the bark of trees, but some are fond 

 of inhabiting old bones, and are even parasitic in ants' 

 nests. The name Rhizophagus signifies 

 ' root-eating,' and there are about ten 

 British species. Though they are for 

 the most part vegetable-feeders, some 

 at least of the species are known to be 

 carnivorous, and have been detected in 

 eating the larvae of other bark-feeding 

 Beetles belonging to the genus Hyle- 



Rhuophagus 

 ferrugineus. sinUS. 



The colour of this species is smooth shining rust- 

 red, sometimes deepening into reddish-black. There 



