102 , THE HELOCERA. 



ftectien,; thai .when we have worked through the next 

 two groups of Beetles, we shall get to insects of more 

 refined tastes, and then for many pages we may pro- 

 ceed joyously, with nothing worse than rotten wood 

 to offend our delicacy. 



The first of these tribes is that of the Helocera, in 

 which, as in the Necrophaga, the antennae are thick- 

 ened at the extremity, and the general organization 

 also agrees closely with that of the members of that 

 tribe. These insects differ however from the Necro- 

 phaga in the structure of the limbs, which are flattened 

 and contractile, that is to say, the different parts of 

 which they are composed are arranged so as to be 

 capable of folding up into a very small compass, and 

 thus lying very close to the body, the lower surface 

 of which is usually furnished with small cavities for 

 their reception. The antennae also are frequently 

 received in small grooves beneath the prothorax, so 

 that all the external appendages may be packed away 

 very snugly ; and this dodge is always resorted to by 

 the Beetles under the pressure of danger, when they 

 mimic death most pertinaciously. 



The insects of this tribe present themselves under 

 two very different forms. In some, forming the 

 genus Byrrhus and its allies, the body is oval and 

 very convex, or nearly spherical, and the head is bent 

 downwards so as to be completely concealed by the 

 prothorax when the insect is examined from above. 

 The antennae are short, straight, and gradually thick- 

 ened from the base to the apex; when contracted, 

 they, as well as the limbs, are received in little 

 grooves of the lower surface. In this condition the 

 Byrrhi present no small resemblance to a large seed 

 or pill, and they have in consequence received the 



