516 



INSECTA. 



Uololepta, Payk., lias tlie body very mucli flattened; fhc prostcrnum is not advanced over tlie nioutl), and the 

 four posterior tibirc Ijave only a sin;2:le row of spines. These insects are found beneath the bark of trees. The 

 tarva figured by Paykull as tliat of one of these insects, belongs to the genus Syrphus or Miisca. 



Hister is composed of species having the prosternum advanced over the mouth, with the niaxillfc terminated by 

 a short lobe, and the palpi but little advanced ; some of which have only a single row of spines on the four hind 

 tibiae. These also live under the bark of trees, and compose Leach's genera Plafysoma ami DendrophUus; the 

 first of which has the body flattened, //. /lici/x:-,-, Fabr. Those species which have two rows of spines on the four 

 hind tibiie compose Leach's restricted genus IJi.stcr. Ex., //. unicolor, Linn., one-third of an inch long; entirely 

 black and sliining, and extremely conmion. M. Paykull has employed the num ber of teeth 

 in the tibia?, and of the striie and punctures of the thorax and el\tra, as well as the form of 

 the body, to distinguish the species, 



A terminal division uf this tribe comprises tliose llistorniilcs of very small size, having 



T£fr^- T ^^^^^=> a nearly globose tliick bndy, with thr prn>t'.rnuiii but slightly compressed at the sides ; 

 ^\-'< \ :;1V--. not advanced ovei' tlie nioutb, and sti*:ii^"lit in fi-unt. 



Almeiis, Leach, lias the prosternum iirohuiged as far as the anterior angles of the thorax, 

 entirely concealing the antennae when retracted. N. globoxus, Payk. 



Onlhnphiliis, Leach, has the prosternum narrowed, and the club of the antenna? lodged 

 in an (irliicular cavity situated beneatii the anterior angles of the thorax. //. Siflcnfux, Pk. 

 ii,-. -— IS cr unico r.r. Ccid oceriis, GevmoT, app^tiTS to approach Hister in the form of the antennae, feet, &c., 

 but the elytra entirely cover the abdomen, and the jaws are not exserted. 



[The monograph of the genus Hister, by Paykull, published at Upsal, 1811, and Sturm's Dcntschknuls l^amwy 

 contains descriptions and figures of a LTi't-at number of species; whilst Dr. Erichson has added considerably to 

 the number of generic groups in the tribe, in an admirable memoir published in Dr. King's Jabrhucher.] 



Tiic otlier Chivicorues have the feet inserted at equal (listanc-s apart. Such of tlie^e insects as 

 have these organs not contraetih?, or with (he tarsi merely fulded upon the tihite, tlie rnandjliles gene- 

 rally exposed and flattened, or Init little tluckcncd, and the prosternum dilated in iVont, compose live 

 other ti-ihes. 



Tlie ilrrd tribe, S//j)haIes, ])ossosses five very (hstinct ioiiits in all tlie tarsi, and llie niandililes are 

 terminated in an entire jMiint, without notch or slit. The antennrc are terminated generally in a per- 

 foliated ehib of fnur or five joinis. The maxillae have generally a horny tooth on the inner edge; the 

 anterior tarsi are often dilated, at least in the males ; the elytra of the greater number have a depressed 

 line along the outer edge, which is turned up. This tribe consists of the genus 



Sii.rnA, Linn. iP</Nis, (.leclTr,). 



Sphd-rilrs. Diiflsrb., Sfn-ajur.-i, Fisch., has the aideiimr siuhh-uly terminated in a short solid mass, formed of the 

 last four joints ; the second is larger than the following The body nearly square ; elytra truncate : tibix' dentate. 

 These insects so nearly resemble Hister, that Fabricius united them with that genus. Type, Ulster glabratus, Fabr. 

 [an insect of small size, lately detected in Scotland]. 



The rest have the antenna; terminated in a perfoliated mass. 



Some of these have the body oblong, with the head narrowed into a neck behind the eyes ; as broad, or scarcely 

 narrower, than the front margin of the thorax ; the elytra are oblong ; truncate behind ; the hind Ibighs, at least 

 in the males, are generally thickened, and the anterior tarsi are dilated in the males. 



Nm-djihoni.-:, Falir., ba-^ the antrnnT' terminated by a nearly globular 4-jointed mass ; the body is parallelopiped, 

 anil till' niaxilUe uaut (!ir hurny tonth. The instinctive habits which these insects possess of burying small quad- 

 rupeds, has caused them to be named Sexton, or Burying Beetles. "When a dead Mouse or Mole, &c. is observed, 

 these insects creep beneath it. dig away the earth until the hole is sufficiently deep to receive the animal, which 

 they pull in towards them, and in which they then deposit their eggs, the larva? feeding upon the carcase. These 

 larva? are long, of a greyish white, \^ iili rhe njiper side of the anterior segments armed with a scaly plate of a 

 brown colour, and with sin;dl flr\ atrd points upon the posterior. They have six legs and strong mandibles. 

 Previous to asMiniiiig tin? impa si;i{r they bury themselves deeply into the cartb, where they construct a cell, 

 which they line w itb a glutnmas secrefion. 'I'hese insects, like many uthcrs eipially carnivorous, have a strong 

 smell of musk. It appears that their povyers of scent must be very great, as in a very litth' time after a Mote 

 has been killed some of them are seen hovering over the body, although they hail not been previously observed 



;d of the N<?crn|ihori and Siliiba; is at least three times as long as the body ; the 



in the vicinity. The digestive cai 

 intestinal canal is very long. 



NecrophoruH i-cupiUo, Linn., is from two-thirds to seven-eighths of an inch 

 long; black, with the three terminal joints of the antennae red, and two orange- 

 coloured bands on the elytra; the coxa? of the hind-legs armed with a strong 

 tontli, [Tb''r(. nrf sc\cval species closely allii.'d to this iie-ert. wbirli is "\'ery 

 cnmninn iii p,!!- laud ; and it is tube obser\ rd (hat they nre;isinn;dly 

 rntten fungus and boleli, as weii aS aniiun) matler in ;i ileeayiiig state.] 

 the species from North America surpas.s Dm- i e>.i in si/.e. 



AVr;vn^'.^ A^'ilkin ; S'llpha, Linn., lias tin' anfmna' evidently hmger 

 head, and terminated by an (?luiigated 5-j()iided iiuiss ; the bud > i.b0\a 



■qil 



than the 

 , oblong: 



