102 INSECTS AT HOME. 



is sliown on Woodcut XI. Fig. 3. It is the only Britisli species 

 of its gcn\is. This tiny Beetle is about the fourteenth of an 

 inch in length, and may be found in stores of flour and rice, 

 especially the latter, from which fact some entomologists infer 

 that it has been imported into England, and is not an indigenous 

 British species. Its colour is warm-chestnut, and its lx)dy 

 is very smooth and shining, but deeply punctured, and the 

 elytra are regularly striated. The generic title Anomniatua 

 signifies ' eyeless,' and is given to the insect in consequence 

 of the entire absence of eyes, so that it really deserves the 

 name of Blind Beetle. Perhaps the reader may remember that 

 several other orders of insects afford examples of eyeless specieF, 

 especially among the exotic ants. 



The family of the Cryptophagid® will be represented by one 

 biample. 



In all these little Beetles the antennae have eleven joints, and 

 vre boldly clubbed at the end. The elytra are not truncated, 

 and the coxae of the first and intermediate pair of legs are 

 globular, while those of the hind pair are cylindrical. The 

 lame of Cryptophagidae is given to these Beetles because they 

 feed mostly on cryptogamous plants, especially the fungi. Like 

 the last family, the species are very much like each other, and 

 require much care before they can be ascertained. In examin- 

 ino: the details of all these minute Beetles, I have found a 

 compound microscope with a two or one-and-a-half-inch object- 

 glass better than an ordinary pocket lens, but a Coddington 

 lens will answer nearly as well in experienced hands. 



One example of tliis family is Gniptophagus pilosus, which 

 is shown on Woodcut XL Fig. 4, and the form of the antenna 

 is shown at Fig. g. The genus is known by the shape of the 

 margins of the thorax, wliich are more or less toothed. The 

 present species is oblong, and its colour rust-red, the surface of 

 the body being sparingly covered with very fine down. The 

 thorax is thickly punctured, especially on the disc. In this 

 Beetle the marginal toothing of the thorax is ngt so conspicuous 

 as in most of the species, and is rather undulated than toothed. 

 It is to be found in and about fungi. There are about seven- 

 teen species of this genus. 



