136 INSECTS. 



and is more or less artificial in its character. Most of the species included in the 

 group feed upon decaying animal or vegetable matter, hence the name Necrophaga. 

 The antennas exhibit in general a tendency to be thickened towards the tip, and in 

 many cases the last three joints form a distinct club ; but in some of the families 

 antennas of quite another shape are to be found. Though usually live-jointed, the 

 tarsi display in the number of their joints almost every variation met with, in the 

 Coleoptera. 



The family of Paussidce includes probably less than two hundred known 

 species, the majority of which have been discovered in the tropics of Asia and 

 Africa, though one species (Paussus favlerl) occurs in the south-west of Europe. 

 They are mostly reddish brown insects, of rather small size, oblong form, and in 

 general appearance little attractive, were it not for the extraordinary shapes of 

 their antennae. These organs are generally very broad and flat, in some species 

 resembling a paper-knife in shape ; the number of joints varies from ten to two, 

 and the last joint frequently has a bulbous or discoidal form. So far as at present 

 known, all the species live in ants' nests, and, unless sought for in these situations, 

 they are rarely seen except at night when they occasionally fly into rooms, attracted 

 by the light from the lamps. 



The tiny beetles belonging to the Pselaph idee resemble the Paussidce in exhibit- 

 ing certain anomalies in their structure, and their lives are passed in similar obscure 

 situations. But while the Paussidcu may possibly be related to the Carabidce, the 

 very short elytra of the Pselaphidce, and the entirely horny nature of the dorsal 

 plates of the abdomen seem to indicate an affinity with the Staphylinidce. In 

 other points of structure, however, these two families are different. In the 

 Pselaphidce the lobes of the maxillas are soft and membranous ; and the abdomen, 

 which in one group (the Clavigerince) is composed of five segments, with the basal 

 rings fused together, is quite incapable of the movements so characteristic of the 

 rove-beetles. The joints of the antennas vary in number from eleven to six, 

 or even two, and are in most cases clubbed at the end. While in one division 

 of the family the palpi are usually composed of three or four joints, and are 

 long and conspicuous, in the other they are one-jointed and scarcely visible. 

 The tarsi are three-jointed, the first and second joints often very short, while 

 the third is long and in many cases bears only a single claw. The Pselaphidce 

 are distributed throughout most parts of the world. They are to be found 

 under stones, moss, dead leaves, and other vegetable refuse, as well as under 

 the bark of trees, and in damp marshy situations ; but the most interesting 

 species are those which live in ants' nests. They are all of small size. The genus 

 Claviger, comprising about eighteen European and one or two Asiatic species, has 

 six-jointed antennas, and is further remarkable for the fact that the long cylindrical 

 head is entirely devoid of eyes. The best known species, C. testaceus, is in 

 Britain met with chiefly in the nests of the common yellow ant (Lasius flavus), 

 though on the Continent it is found also in the nests of other species. It is 

 about a tenth of an inch long, yellowish brown in colour, wingless, with the 

 elytra fused together, and with a deep impression on the base of the abdomen. 

 The relation between the ants and their guests is of a most interesting character. 

 Whenever an ant meets one of these guests in a gallery of the nest, it gently 



