BEETLES. 



395 



Fig. 477. — 



dead snake. According to a statement lately made by J. Frivaldsky, a Hungarian 

 entomologist, Acinopus ammophylus., a species from southern Russia, feeds upon pods 

 and seeds of medic {Medicago sativa), which the beetles collect during the night and 

 heap up about their bui-rows in the ground. 



Of the extreme variety of forms which species of Carabidee present, none is more 

 remarkable than that of Mormolyce. The comfnonest species is M. phyllodes, a beetle 

 often reaching three inches in length, 

 and found in the forests upon the moun- 

 tains of Java, where its i-emarkable form, 

 best shown by the figure, has attracted 

 the attention of the natives, by whom it 

 is called bibliolaK an. Its antennae and 

 legs are black ; the rest of the beetle is 

 pitch-brown, a little lighter in shade 

 upon the margins of the elytra. These 

 beetles, as well as their larvae, are found 

 about Polyporus fomentar'ius, a fungus 

 upon the trunks of trees. The larvae, 

 which exhibit no remarkable structural 

 peculiarities, and resemble those of Cara^ 

 bus, live within the fungus, feeding, it is 

 supposed, upon the larvae of other insects. Pupation takes place within the fungus, and 

 the form of the elytra in the pupa indicates, to a certain extent, the remarkable form of 

 the beetle that is to emerge from it. Larval life requires from eight to nine months ; pupal 

 life from eight to ten weeks. The imagos are found mostly from August to November. 

 A large sub-family, the Harpalinas, includes such Carabidse as have the " middle 

 coxal cavities entirely enclosed by the sterna, the epimeron not reaching the coxa ; 

 head without antennal grooves beneath, and supraorbital distinct setae ; ambulatorial 

 setEB of abdomen usually well-developed." 



The genus Harpalus includes a lai'ge number of flattened usually 

 black beetles, of which it is often difficult to determine the species. 

 Most of them have nearly square prothorax. Of the species of this 

 genus JI. caliginosus is very common in the eastern United States, 

 often feeding upon the pollen and seeds of the common ragweed 

 {Ambrosia artemisimfolia). It is about an inch in 

 length. A number of slightlj- smaller sjjecies are 

 equally common, and have similar habits to the one 

 last mentioned. Xot very different from Harpahis 

 in structure and habits are the many species of Ani- 

 sodactylus. • Still smaller than insects of the last- 

 mentioned genera is Gynandropus liylacis, found in the eastern United 

 States. This beetle is about 0.3 of an inch long. It is black above, 

 and has brownish legs and mouth-parts ; the elytra are striate. This 

 beetle often abounds under the loose bark of hickory trees. Among 

 other small carabids, which are not far from Harpalus in systematic ^'^aromfhy?a!^s^ 

 position, are the species of Agonoderus. A. lineola, a very common 

 little beetle about 0.35 of an inch long, which flies into the open windows in the 

 evening, attracted by the lights within, is yellowish-brown, with black dots upon 



Fig. 478. — Ba/rpalus 

 caliginosus. 



