INSECT LIFE IN INDIA , 



427 



The larva is grub-like, with a distinct head and jaws ; sometimes 

 antenna? and six legs are present. They have no special boring 

 apparatus and the sexes are distinct. They usually feed at night and 

 upon all sorts of substances. They are sometimes parasitic upon other 

 animals, but this is not usual. Owing to the difficulty in rearing 

 Coleoptera less is perhaps known about their life histories than of those 

 of other insects. In India until within quite recent years the infor- 

 mation on this subject was practically non-existent. As will be seen 

 from the figures in the following Chapters the larvse vary considerably 

 in appearance. Fig. 89 shows several larval forms of this family. 



Fig, 89. — Coleopterous larva\ a. Lachnosterna ? sp. h. Thanasimushimalayensis. 

 e. Sphenoptera gossypii. d. Elater sp. e. Hoplocerambyx spinicornia. 

 (Cerambycidaa) /. Scolytus minor, g. Cyrtotrachelus longipes (Curcu- 

 lionidae). 



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