COLEOPTERA. 463 
putrefaction. The most remarkable insects of this tribe are the 
Histers, the Silphas, properly so called, and the Necrophori. 
The Histers are small insects, to be recognised by their body 
being almost round, smooth, and shining, with the elytra marked 

Fig. 449.—Lucanus bellicosus. 
with striaz, and their mandibles pretty well developed. They 
attain to a length of about a fifth of an inch. The Silphe, 
thus named on account of their broad and rounded form, are 
of a larger size (about half to three-quarters of an inch), of a 
dark colour, and exhale a sickly odour. When seized, they dis- 
gorge a blackish liquid. They introduce themselves under the 
skin of the carcasses of animals, and devour their flesh to the 
very bone. The larvee, flat and serrated, live, like the adults, in 
carrion. The commonest species is the Si/pha obscura, of an 
