BEETLES 165 



Every one who has collected insects in the tropics 

 is thoroughly familiar with certain beetles, usually 

 coloured red, or red and black, which on account of 

 their soft leathery wing-covers bear a family resem- 

 blance to the "Soldiers and Sailors" so abundant in 

 England. These beetles belong to the Lycidce, one of 

 the families of the group Malacodermata, to which the 

 " Soldiers and Sailors " also belong. The Lycidce are 

 not only abundant, but expose themselves very freely 

 on flower-heads, tree-trunks, etc. From observations 

 and experiments made by Mr. G. A. K. Marshall in 

 South Africa, and by myself in Borneo, there is every 

 reason to suppose that the Lycidce, owing to their 

 nauseous properties, are very distasteful to insect 

 enemies ; but to this subject I shall return later. The 

 larvae are also very conspicuous creatures that 

 may be found in some numbers crawling about on 

 the trunks of trees or on the floor of the jungle. 



I was successful in breeding the imagines from two 

 kinds of Lycid larvae, Lycostomus gestroi and Colo- 

 chromus dispar. The first of these is in shape and 

 certain details of anatomy not unlike the common 

 Glow-Worm, which is the larva-like female of another 

 member of the Malacodermata, Lampyris noctiluca. 

 But in colouring the Lycostomus larva is very different, 

 for it is black on the upper surface with a marginal 

 series of orange spots, while beneath it is white with 

 black spots. The larvae, like the adults, are very 

 distasteful, and their colouring is, no doubt, yet 

 another example of warning coloration. The head, as 

 in so many Malacoderm larvae, is very small, and 

 can be withdrawn inside the first thoracic segment ; 

 the antennae are also retractile, and are little club- 



