IIETEROMERA MORDELLIDAE 



267 



Fig. 138. — A sclera cneriilea. A, Larva ; 

 B, jiupa (after Schiddte) ; C, imago. 

 Cambj idge. 



coasts, where its larva lives in timber cast up by the sea, or 

 brought down by tioods, and it 

 is able to resist immersion by 

 the tide. It is remarkable from 

 the possession of five pairs of 

 dorsal false feet on the anterior 

 segments, and two pairs on 

 the ventral aspect. In Asclcra 

 caerulea there are six dorsal and 

 three ventral pairs of these re- 

 markable pseudopods. A^^e have 

 six species of Oedemeridae in 

 Britain, including Asclera as 

 well as Xaccrdcs. 



Fam. 74. Mordellidae (inch 

 Rhipiphoridae). — Head peculiarly formed , vertex lobed or ridged 

 behind, so that in extension it reiMses on the front edge of the pro- 

 notum ; capable of great inflection and then covering the prosternum; 

 hind coxae loith laminae forming a sharp edge behind, frequently 

 very large. This family is a very distinct one, though it exhibits 

 great variety. Lacordaire has pointed out that Ehipiphoridae 

 cannot at present be satisfactorily distinguished from Mordellidae. 

 Leconte and Horn separate the two by the fact that the sides 

 of the prothorax form a sharp edge in Mordellidae, but not in 

 Ehipiphoridae. A better character would perhaps be found by a 

 study of the head, but as this would clearly result in a radical 

 change in the composition of the two families it is preferable to 

 treat them at present as only sub-families : if placed on a similar 

 basis to the preceding families, the group would however form, 

 not two, but several families. Besides the unusual shape of the 

 head (Fig. 139, D) the ventral region of the body is remarkably 

 formed, being very convex, and in many Mordellides terminating 

 in a strong spinous process (Fig. 139, C). The elytra are, in 

 several Ehipiphorids, of the groups ilyoditini and Ehipidiini, 

 reduced to a very small size, and the wings are not folded. The 

 Mordellidae are remarkable for their activity ; in the perfect 

 state they usually frequent flowers, and fly and run with extreme 

 rapidity. Mordellides are amongst the most numerous and 

 abundant of the European Coleoptera, and in Britain the 

 Anaspini swarm on the flowers of bushes and Umbelliferae. The 



