432 CLASS INSECTA. 



an appendage of the preceding. (See Elater and many 

 other genera of coleoptera.) 



These insects are small, and inhabit dung and other ex- 

 crementitious substances. Some species remain near the 

 edge of waters. 



They compose the genus, 



Sph^ridium, of Fabricius, 



But from which it is necessary to separate many species, 

 which Olivier has already done. Dr. Leach even retains only 

 those in which the anterior tarsi are dilated in the males. 

 Such is, 



Dermestes scarabceoides, Lin. ; Oliv. Col. IL 15, 1 and 3, 

 II. ii. It is of a shining black, smooth, with the scutellum 

 elongated, the feet very spinous, a spot of blood-red on the 

 base of each elytrum, and their extremity reddish. These 

 spots diminish, or are obliterated in many individuals. 



The species whose tarsi are similar in the two sexes, and in 

 which the knob of the antennae is loosely imbricated, compose 

 the genus Ckrcydion of this naturalist. We might, from 

 the consideration of the form of the legs, the disposition of 

 their spines or denticulations, divide the sphoeridia into 

 many other sections, which would facilitate the study of the 

 species, the number of which appears to have been too much 

 multiplied. 



