98 INSECTS AT uo:siE. 



giving tlie least signs of life, the legs being folded flatly under 

 the body so that they are soarcely visible. Indeed, I scarcely 

 know whether they or the Pill Beetles, which will presently be 

 described, are the most obstinate in this respect. 



The larvae of the ]\Iimic Beetles are also to be found in cow- 

 dung, and are not in the least like their parents, being long- 

 bodied, cylindrical, whitish in coloiir,with two forked appendages 

 at the tail. Some species prefer dead animals, and may be found 

 in the moles to which reference has already been made. About 

 fourteen British species of Hister are known ; and the young 

 entomologist will find that, owing to variations of colour, he 

 will often be rather perplexed to determine the exact species 

 of some new capture. 



With great reluctance I am obliged to omit several genera, 

 and must proceed at once to the next family, the Nitidulidse. 

 The Beetles of this family have short clubbed antennae. The 

 head is sunk in the thorax as far as the eyes, and the mandi- 

 bles are notched at the tip ; the thorax is rather square, and 

 the tarsi have five joints;. The body is flattened. The little 

 Beetles which are found in such numbers in flowers, and have 

 such shining bodies, mostly belong to this family, to which 

 the name of Kitidulidce has been given on account of their 

 glittering bodies. 



The typical sub-family, the Nitidulina, are known by the 

 length of the elytra, which reach to the last joint of the 

 abdomen, and the shape of the thorax, which does not cover the 

 base of the elytra. One of these insects, Nitidida [Oniositci] 

 deprcssa, is shown at Fig. 9 on Plate IV., and is represented as 

 crawling up the stem of the central mushroom. 



The body of this Beetle is oval, and, as may be inferred from 

 its name, is much flattened. Its colour is rusty-bi-own, and the 

 surface is thickly punctured. Upon the elytra are some faint 

 oblong black streaks, and a curved mark of paler hue than the 

 rest of the body. This is a very plentiful species, and may 

 be foinid in fungi, as represented on the plate, under the bai"k 

 of trees, and even in old bones. 



The larva) of tliese Beetles feed on various substances, chiefly 

 on decaying vegetable matter. One of them, for example, 

 Nitidula gvisea^ is found about the biu'rows made by willow* 



