OUTLINES OF ENTOMOLOGY. 57 



rion to find it being moved by some unseen force. If taken up or 

 turned over, several species of large beetles that were at work digging 

 out the earth beneath it will be disclosed. Many of the species are 

 easily collected by means of such unsavory traps. 



These beetles differ considerably in size and color, but all have 

 rather broad, flattened bodies, five joints in all the feet, which end in 

 long claws. The antennae are rather abruptly enlarged at the tips. The 

 prothorax is expanded into a broad plate used as a shovel in the dig- 

 ging operations. Necrophorus americanus, Oliv., is our largest species, 

 frequently measuring one and one-fourth inch in length by one-half 

 inch in breadth. It is of a glossy-black color, with a large red-brown 

 spot in the middle of the head, the prothorax being almost entirely 

 of red-brown, and there are two large patches of the same bright color 

 on each wing cover. The black antennae end in a leafy knob of golden 

 brown, and the joints of the front feet are covered on the under side 

 with silky hairs of a similar color. The pointed tip of the abdomen 

 protrudes about one-fourth inch beyond the squarely cut wing covers. 

 In the genus Silpha the body is very flat and almost orbicular, the 

 prothorax being expanded into a wide, thin flange, and is usually of a 

 brighter color than the broad, roughened wing covers. 



The Rove beetles have long, slender, black or dark colored bodies, 

 with very short, square wing covers which leave more than one-half of 

 the abdomen unprotected. The head is usually somewhat broader 

 than the prothorax, the sharply pointed jaws crossed in front, and the 

 rather small, oval eyes are wide apart. Some species are an inch or 

 more in length, while others are very minute. Like the preceding 

 tribe, they are carrion feeders, but prefer the carcasses of the larger 

 animals, such as dogs and horses. 



trig. 24.] The Lady-bird beetles include a group of small^ 



handsome beetles of an oval or hemispherical form, 

 with three-jointed feet and short antennae. The 

 surface is polished and usually ornamented with 

 round or oval spots of black on a rose-red, brick- 

 r ed or orange ground, or with red spots on a black 

 and pBpse ~ after ground. The Lady birds are among the best known 

 of their order, and deserve to be the popular favorites which they are, 

 on account of the excellent service which they render in ridding our 

 gardens and orchards of plant-lice, bark-lice and other small insect 

 pests. The larvae are ugly, alligator-shaped creatures, generally of a 

 dull, black color, in some species banded with yellow. Some have the 

 surface covered with spines, while others are simply ridged and hairy. 



