FAMILY CLERIDJE. 91 



Cli'i'iila 1 . 



Anti-.x.v.e subclavate. the three or four last joints being thickened : the head is more or 

 less retractile ; and the anterior parts, head and thorax, appear elongated, while the 

 abdomen is short. The thorax and body axe both subrotund; the last joint but one of the 

 tarsi, bifid. 



The family is composed of small but beautiful insects : they live in wood, and some- 

 times in the dried remains of animals, in which respect they seem to resemble the der- 

 mestida?. Others frequent beehives, and feed upon the larva? of the bee. 



Genus CLERUS (Geoff.). Trichodes (Fab.). 



• Tarsi with the basal joints scarcely visible ; labial palpi terminated by a large hatchet- 

 ' shaped joint; terminal joint of the antenna? acutely produced within" (Westwood). 



Clerus apiarius. ( Plate ii, fig. 8.) 



Color steel-blue, pubescent : elytra vermilion, with three transverse bands of deep violet. 



Genus THANASIMUS (Lath.). 



Antennae gradually clavate : maxillary palpi small ; labial palpi terminated by a hatchet- 

 shaped joint ; basal tarsi joint small. 



Thanasimus dubius (Latr.). ( Plate viii, fig. 7.) 



Color brown and fuscous, pubescent ; madibles aad eyes black ; head, thorax and base of 



the elytra fuscous. Xeck surrounded with a collar : thorax emarginate before, deeply 



grooved transversely behind, and exserted. Elytra fuscous and strongly punctured at 



base, banded with rufous white and dark brown or black ; thighs fuscous ; tibia and 



first joints of the tarsi dark brown. 



One-third of the basal portion of the elytra is pubescent ; the remainder, or banded 



portion, is clothed with close-pressed short hairs : on the undulating whitish bands, the 



hair is dirty white. Length one-fourth of an inch. 



This species of Thanasimus is found upon the pine, both in the living and decayed state 

 of the tree. 



The laxva of one of the English species of Clerus, C. apiarius, is found in beehives, and 

 is highly injurious to the community, as it feeds upon the grubs of the bees. It is an 

 European insect, and is not known in this country ; but as other members of the family 

 may have the same habits, it is important that they should be found out. 



