56 ORDER COLEOPTERA. 



P a r n i d o s. 



This subfamily is composed of insects which frequent water : their tibise are unarmed* 

 and narrow, and their legs are formed for walking. The] have an oval body, more or less 

 o tn vex, and the posterior part of the thorax is as v, ide a> the abdomen or base of the elj tra. 

 The antenna are short ; mandibles robust and notched at the tip, with their inn< r surface 

 ciliated. As thej frequenl the water, their entire surface, as in P rnus, is covered with 

 cilia t > « retain air : or. as in Elmis, in part ciliated, for the saiae object This arrangement 

 gives them oxygen when immersed in water. 



Tlie two genera Parnus and Elmis are regarded as belonging to two subfamilies ; but 

 being closely related, it is sufficient for our purpose to place them iu juxtaposition. 



Parms rASTiGiATUS. ( Plate xxiii, fig. 7.) 



Body oval convex; head retracted : color a drab brown ; thorax and elytra coi i red witli 



,;t <>1' tine appressed hair ; legs reddish on their outer si< 



Elmis crenatis! (Plate xxiii, fig. 0.) 



I. nvex, angulated, punctate, acute behind : thorax and elytra marked with four 



black dots, and a taint reddish stripe upon each ; legs reddish 



Silphidcs. 



The '.vide dep " Hat form of body is a reliable characteristic of a part of this group 



They are always present in putrescent animal matter : wherever a carcase of an animal is 

 i!e nying, or even a b »ne a >t perfectly bleached, there we find numbers of the silphides. 

 'I'll- Nr.cRoriior.i s, however, is much less depressed or llattened than the genus Silimia. 

 and seems at first sighl to constitute a distinct group bj itself. The latter are sometimes 

 beetles, from their habit of burying all the small dead animal- which thej 

 • with. In this labor, they exhibit a greal amount of industry and perseverance, as well 

 as a high made of instinct in seemingly devising means to accomplish an end. 



The ana characters of these beetles, as given T5y Westwood and others, are : 



Antenna? thickened al the tips; palpi filiform and slender; labrum transverse and 



emarginate ; maxilla bilobed, the inner aimed with a book; mandibles strong and ex-ert. 



especially in Necrophobps : thorax orbicular or semicircular, forming a kind of shield for 



: : tarsi five-joint* '. tb fourth nearly equalling the others. 



<;>-. - WEOBOPHORUS (Fab., Leach, Out.). 



' B fdy oblong : elytra truncate ; < Iubof the antenna 1 large, round, four-jointed, perfoliate; 

 ' maxill e unarmed " ( Vi kstwood) 



