16 MANDIBULATA. COLEOPTERA. 



The genera which are reputed to inhabit Britain may be de- 

 tected by the following concise characters ; 



ftruncata. f capitulo subgloboso, 4-articulato : . 122. Necbophorus. 



\An- \ 

 | tennce. 

 Elytra •{ ^gradatim extrorsum crassiores : . 123. Necrodes. 



fgraciliore. I abrupte clavatae : . 124. Oiceoptoma. 



haud I Antennae -l 



truncata. I (gradatim cla- ( 4-articulato : 125. Silpha. 



Palpi ar--{ vatse, capitulo < 



ticulo ul- ( 3-articulato : 126. Phosphuga. 



timo I 



(.crassiore. ( 5-articulato : 127. AGYRTES. 



Antennarum capitulo ■< 



{3-articulato: 128. PELTIS. 



Genus CXXII. — Necrophorus, Fabricius. 



Antennas rather longer than the head, slender at the base, and terminating sud- 

 denly in a large ovate perfoliate club, composed of four coarctate joints, the 

 last of which is acuminated : head with a distinct neck : thorax suborbiculate, 

 rounded behind, transversely truncate anteriorly : elytra truncated in a slight 

 line, with a marginal channel, not carinated ; body oblong, much longer than 

 broad: tibia? short, robust; posterior trochanters sometimes with a spine at 

 the apex ; anterior tarsi dilated and furnished with long cilia in the males. 



This conspicuous genus may be readily known by the large sub- 

 globose quadriarticulate clava of the antennae, combined with the 

 truncate elytra, irregular suborbicular thorax, short robust legs, 

 oblong body, and distinct neck: — their wings are exceedingly 

 long, and during flight the insects carry their elytra erect, the upper 

 surfaces being opposed to each other. The species frequent the 

 same haunts as the rest of the family, but, unlike their allies, they 

 bury the animals upon which they, or rather their progeny, subsist — 

 whence the names of several of the species — three or four specimens 

 sufficing for the interment of a small quadruped, bird, &c, which 

 they will perform in an incredible short space of time, by digging 

 away the earth around and under the animal till it falls into the 

 prepared hollow, and covering the body with the displaced mould : 

 — some of the species are found also in fungi : they are very subject 

 to be infested with acari. 



A. With the posterior tibiae straight; the trochanters simple, 

 a. With the thorax very much dilated anteriorly. 



Sp. 1. germanicus. Niger, clypeo medio membranaceo Jlavo , tlytrorum margine 

 rtifo, antennarum clava atrd. (Long. corp. 13—16 lin.) 



