i54 



INSECTS. 



Stranijidia wnrvata and larva 

 (nat. size). 



insects, others like Rhagium are found on the trunks of pine-trees. In the 



Molorchides the elytra are usually short or very narrow, and the abdomen slender 



and constricted at the 

 base, so that many of 

 the species have a re- 

 semblance to Hymen- 

 optera. The European 

 Necydalis major looks 

 like a hornet, but in 

 many of the tropical 

 forms these resem- 

 blances are more pro- 

 nounced. The Clytides 

 are found on flowers, 

 chiefly of the umbell- 

 iferous kind, and two or 

 three species are among 



the prettiest of British beetles. Some of the 

 Clytides and species of Hylotrupes and Callidium 

 are occasionally met with in houses, being intro- 

 duced in the wood in which the larvse feed. The 

 Lamiince are more numerous than the other 

 Longicorns, and distinguished by having an 

 oblique groove on the lower side of the front 

 tibia;, the last joint of the palpi usually pointed 

 at the end, and the front of the head in most 



cases turned down vertically, or sometimes even inclined backwards, bringing the 



mouth close to the presternum. The species of the genus Lamia are few in 



number and by no means typical of the subfamily ; they are clumsy-looking, dull 



black insects, one of which (Lamia 



textor) is found on willow-trees and in 



osier-beds in some parts of Britain. In 



the genus Acanthocinus the antenna? 



attain their greatest length, being four 



times as long as the body in the male. 



A. add is is found in pine -woods in 



Scotland, and is met with occasionally 



in other parts of Great Britain and 



even in London, where it is sometimes 



introduced in timber. Amongst the 



exotic species of this subfamily, the 



harlequin - beetle (Acrocinus longi- 



manus) is one of the most remarkable, 



being distinguished, not only by its curiously variegated colours, but also by the 



extraordinary length of the front legs in the male. 



The Bruchidce are a small but widely spread family of little beetles which are 



1, mcsk-beetle ; 2, Spcndylis buprestoides 



(nat. size). 



Toxotus meraliunus, male and female (nat. size). 



