THEIR RELATION TO MAN 189 



silky pubescence, or rough and ridged for the lodgment 

 of any sort of material, serving in some cases to disguise 

 and conceal. And as with most of the scavenger fam- 

 ilies, not all of the species are confined to animal foods. 

 Some are found in decaying vegetation, and yet more 

 in fungi, which harbor a great number of species. 



The Histeridce or "pill beetles" are little, chunky 

 creatures shining black or metallic in appearance, and 

 the legs all broad and flattened, fitted for digging. 

 They occur in decays and ferments of all kinds, but 

 their habits are more diverse than in some of the other 

 groups, predatory forms being not uncommon. 



And then come those species allied to the Dermes- 

 tid(B or larder beetles; species that feed upon dead 

 organic material but which instead of being advan- 

 tageous are rather the reverse, since they often feed 

 upon material that man desires for his own use, like 

 dried and smoked meats, hides and even the animal 

 fabrics. Here again we note that the matter of use- 

 fulness is after all only a relative one, since the very 

 function that makes a species valuable when it affects 

 something of no use to man, makes it harmful when it 

 affects something that he wishes to keep. 



There are exceptional scavengers in most of the 

 other beetle families, but none that need mention 

 here except the "tumble-bugs" and their allies, which 

 feed on excrementitious material, often rolling large 

 balls of dung from the place where it was found to a 

 place where it can be conveniently buried to serve as 

 food for their larvae. These tumble-bugs are members 

 of the Lamellicorn series which contains mostly plant 

 feeders and which are more fully referred to as plant 

 enemies. 



The Lepidoptera contain no scavengers strictly 

 speaking, although there are some species that feed 



