﻿POLYMORPHA- CRYrTOPHAGIDAE HELOTIDAE 



235 



Fam. 33. Cryptophagidae. — Front and middle coxae very 

 small and deeply embedded; antennae with enlarged terminal joints; 



tarsi five-jointed, the posterior sometimes in the male only four - 



jointed; abdomen with fire visible ventral segments, capable of 



movement, the first much- longer than any of the others. A small 



family composed of obscure forms of 



minute size, which apparently have 



mould-eating habits, though very little 



is known on this point, and several of 



the genera (Anther ophagus, Telmatophi- 



lus) are found chiefly on growing plants, 



especially in flowers. Although the 



imago of Antherophagus lives in flowers, 



yet the larva has only been found in 



the nests of bumble-bees ; there is Fig. 116. — Cryptophagus denta- 



reason for believing that the imago H^ftiJ^ST" 



makes use of the bee to transport 



it from the flowers it haunts to the nests in which it is to 



breed ; l this it does by catching hold of the bee with its 



mandibles when the bee visits the flower in which the beetle is 



concealed. It is strange the beetle should adopt such a mode of 



getting to its future home, for it has ample wings. We must 



presume that its senses and instinct permit it to recognise the 



bee, but do not suffice to enable it to find the bee's nest. Some 



of the larvae of the genus Gryptophagus are found abundantly in 



the nests of various wasps, where they are probably useful as 



scavengers, others occur in the nests of social caterpillars, and they 



are sometimes common in loose straw ; this being the habitat in 



which Perris found the one we figure. 



Fam. 34. Helotidae. — Front and middle coxa! rarities round, 

 with scarcely any angular prolongation external/// ; all the coxae 

 widely separated ; five visible ventral segments, all mobile. 

 The Insects of this family are closely allied to Trogositidae 

 and Nitidulidae, and have the tarsal structure of the former 

 family ; but the Helotidae are different in appearance from 

 any members of either of these two families, and are readily 

 distinguished by the coxal character. They are frequently 

 classified with the Erotylidae, from which they differ by the 

 differently shaped feet, especially by the diminished basal joint. 



1 Perris, Larves. etc., p. 75. 



