412 Parasitic Beetles. 



brant form, and have hitherto been considered as true wood- 

 feeders ; but the former is a parasite upon some of the genuine 

 Xylojohaga, and the latter preys upon Platypus cylindrus, to 

 whose attenuate shape it bears some resemblance. Opilus and 

 Clerus, predaceous Malacoderms, follow Anobium and other 

 dry-wood eaters, upon the larvae of which their larvse feed : 

 Antliribus and its allies, sedate and massive, and, on account of 

 their belonging to the peaceful section of Rhynchoplwra, long 

 unsuspected of such appetites, are now known to prey in their 

 larval condition upon Coccus ; a habit for which fruit-growers 

 would doubtless thank them; the beetles are, however, so 

 exceedingly rare here that no practical good can result from 

 their operations. Of a similar class to these relations is the 

 companionship of Dyscliirius with Bledius, members of which 

 two genera are constantly found together — often in profusion — 

 burrowing in sandy places on our coasts and elsewhere. Both 

 are of elongate and cylindrical shape, eminently adapted for 

 their sphere of existence ; Dyscliirius (the wolf) being clothed 

 with more continuous and solid armour, and possessing two 

 very strongly arched, thickened and spined front legs, emi- 

 nently fitted for fossorial purposes, and representing the struc- 

 ture of the fore paws of the mole ; and Bledius (the lamb) 

 having a flexible and somewhat loosely articulated body, and 

 often (in the male) acute, stout, projecting horns on the head 

 and thorax, doubtless also of service in digging. 



Another — and the largest reputed British — member of the 

 Geodephaga (to which section Dyscliirius also belongs), Calosoma 

 sycophanta, has received its specific name from its parasitic 

 connection with the gregarious larva of the processionary moth 

 {Cnetliocampa processionea) , upon which it gorges its fill, both 

 in its own larval condition and as a perfect beetle. It is an 

 exceedingly handsome and large insect, being of a violet-black 

 colour with golden, green, and coppery reflexions, and has for 

 a long time stood its ground in our lists of indigenous species 

 (of which, from mere beauty's sake, it forms one of the chief 

 glories) on the strength of its periodical occurrence, chiefly on 

 or near the coast-line. There seems little doubt, nevertheless, 

 that it is merely an accidental visitor from some of the conti- 

 nental districts where it abounds ; as its especial pabulum, the 

 processionary caterpillar, is not found at all in England, and 

 the beetle is not only possessed of stout wings, and, from its 

 strong build, evidently capable of considerable exertion, but 

 has even been taken actually floating on the sea near our sb 

 suggesting the idea of its dropping nearly exhausted alter a 

 long flight. 



The numerous recorded instances of butterflies and other 

 equally delicately organized insects being seen at greater 



