112 SCHOOL ENTOMOLOGY 



Carrion-beetles (Silphidce), and the Short-winged Scavengers 

 (Staphylinidce) . Carrion-beetles are stout bodied or broad 

 and flattened and have clubbed antennae. Their elytra 

 and body walls are not so hard as in most beetles. They 

 feed, as larvae and as adults, on decaying flesh. The 

 stout-bodied forms have wing covers shortened but not 

 to the same degree as in the next family. The stout- 

 bodied carrion beetles are called burying-beetles. They 

 take the bodies of small animals such as mice and roll or 

 drag them to suitable places, where they bury them and 

 in them deposit their eggs, thus providing food for their 

 young. The more flattened species work their way under 

 the bodies of heavier animals where they feed and lay their 

 eggs, both adults and larvae frequently being found in the 

 same animal. 



The Staphylinids, sometimes called rove-beetles, have 

 very slender bodies and extremely short wing covers. 

 These characters alone will distinguish them. They resem- 

 ble earwigs but do not have the forceps-like appendage of 

 the earwigs. In habit they vary. The majority feed on 

 decaying vegetable matter, but many others eat carrion 

 and are found with the carrion-beetles. 



69. Coccinellidae. The Lady-bugs get their scientific 

 name from the food habit of a large number of the spe- 

 cies. These prey upon scale insects or Coccids and the 

 name for this family signifies Coccid-killers. Many of 

 them prey also upon aphids and other small insects. 

 They have almost hemispherical, usually brightly colored 

 bodies, the colors predominating being orange, yellow and 

 red with black dots. Some species are pure black, others 

 have only a few orange or red spots on a black ground 

 color. All are small and many are among our best-known 

 beetles. They, like the measuring worms, are among the 



