156 ZOOLOCxY. 



length, and the steriunn in some cases hiding the month below. The feet 

 are compressed, and can be drawn close to the l)odj, which has generally 

 cavities to receive them. This stirps contains the two families Byrrhidoi 

 and Ilisteridce. Ilistcr {pi. 81, fgs. 119- 128) is the chief genus of the 

 latter family, in wliich the body is sub-quadrate, often widest in the middle, 

 of a hard consistence, mostly black, marked with strife and punctures, the 

 disposition of which affords good specific characters. The elytra are some- 

 what shorter than the abdomen, the antenniB are elbowed, and the mandibles 

 strong and projecting. When disturbed, they draw up the feet, witlidraw 

 the antennffi into cavities beneath the thorax, and simulate death. They 

 are found in carrion, dung, and decaying fungi. The genus Hololepta is 

 very flat and scale-like, and the species are found beneath moist bark. The 

 American species, Iletcerius hrunneipennis, Randall {ffisfer), is found in 

 ants' nests. The paper of Major John Le Conte on this family may be 

 consulted in the Boston Jour. Nat. Hist. 



The stirps Lamellicornia is extensive and contains numerous distinct 

 forms. The distinctive character is in the antenna?, which are short, of 

 nine or ten articulations, the last (generally three) forming a club composed 

 of flat plates closing upon each other like the leaves of a book. The 

 anterior tibia? are generally dentate. The males often diflfer from the 

 females in having large mandibles and horn-like jDrojections. This stirps 

 contains the largest and some of the handsomest and most splendid among 

 known insects. Some feed upon pollen and honey, some upon leaves, and 

 many frequent excrementitious and decaying vegetable substances. The 

 larva is a long fleshy grub, generally white, curved in a semicircle, having 

 six feet, little capable of locomotion, and generally living in the ground. 

 TJie families are: 1, Lucamdm [2)1. 81, Jj/j. 124); 2, Geotnipidcn {Jig. 

 143) ; 3, Searahceidce {figs. 132, 136-142) ; 4, Aphodiidce {figs. 133-35) ; 5, 

 TrogidiB j Q., DynastidcB {figs. 145-8); 'J., Rutelldm ; %.^ Anaplognathidm ; 

 9, Mdolonthidm {figs. 129-131); 10, Glapliyridoi ; 11, Cetoniadce {figs. 

 125-127). 



The LuGanidm {Liicaiius.^ pi. 81, fig. 124) are considered by "Westwood 

 and others to form a group equal in value to the remaining families united, 

 named respectively Priocera and Petalocera by Dumeril. The American 

 Passcdus cornutus belongs to this family. Its larva is white, and presents 

 the remarkable peculiarity of having but four feet, the posterior pair being 

 represented by a small scale upon each side, which can be moved rapidly, 

 as if it were a real foot. It is found beneath the bark of rotten logs, and is 

 not bent in a semicircle, but walks freely upon its inferior surface. The 

 adult burrows in rotten wood, and may be recognised by its shining black 

 color, large size, flattened parallel form, and quadrate prothorax separated 

 from the striate elytra. The strongly elbowed antenna? in this family 

 indicate an affinity with the IHsteridm. 



The fScarahcddce {p>l. 81, figs. 132, 136, 140-144) have the front of the 



head extended into a flat clypeus used in working in the ground, and in the 



dung upon which they feed. Many of them form a ball of dung (said to 



contain the eggs) which one or two of them roll along until they have iowndi 



860 ' * 



