bending horn on the top of the head; and the elytral striae are 
deep and finely punctured. There also are roughened areas on the 
undersides of the wings and on top of the abdomen. When dis- 
turbed, the adult rubs these areas together, producing squeaking 
sounds or the so called “bess”? notes. The larvae are bluish and 
from 30 to 40 mm. long. The anal lobes consist of two large 
lateral pads, and there are stridulatory organs on the third pair 
of legs. The species lives in colonies in large, rough galleries ex- 
cavated in damp rotten logs or stumps, each colony consisting of 
a male and female and their progeny. The larvae feed on the wood 
but not until after it has been reduced to pulp and treated with 
digestive secretions by the parents (311). 
FAMILY OSTOMATIDAE 
OSTOMATID BEETLES 
This family contains several important enemies of destructive 
forest insects. The adults are rather flattened, elongate or oval, 
blue, green, or black beetles. The antennae are 11-jointed, the last 
three joints forming a loose club; the thorax is narrowest behind; 
and the fourth joint of the five-jointed tarsus is very long. The 
larvae are similar to clerid larvae except for the ventral mouth 
parts. The latter are retracted below the point of attachment of 
the mandibles in ostomatid larvae. 
Temnochila virescens (F.) adults are bright, irridescent, bluish- 
green; there is a pair of recurved hooks on the ninth abdominal] 
segment; and each is about 10 to 18 mm. long. They feed on wood 
borers in their tunnels, on bark beetles crawling about on the bark 
surface, and on bark beetle eggs and larvae in the bark. This is 
one of the most important insect enemies of the southern pine 
beetle. 
Other predaceous ostomatids occurring in eastern forests and 
their insect hosts include the following: Tenebroides corticalis 
(Melsh.) and T. dubiws (Melsh.)—feed on bark beetles; T. bima- 
culatus (Melsh.)—feeds on Agrilus larvae in oaks; Corticotomus 
(Nemosoma) cylindricus (LeC.) and Airora cylindrica (Serv.)— 
feed on ambrosia beetles and cossonids. 
FAMILY MELOIDAE 
BLISTER BEETLES 
Blister beetles are most commonly seen on forest vegetation ; they 
are fairly large, soft-bodied, sprawling, and loose-jointed. The 
head narrows abruptly behind to the neck; the elytra are soft; the 
abdomen is often large and swollen; the tarsal claws are cleft or 
appendaged; and the color is either green, gray, brown, or black. 
The adults are plant feeders and often defoliate their hosts. The 
larvae are parasitic of grasshopper eggs or in the nests of bees. 
Several species, including the striped blister beetle, HE picauta vit- 
tata (F.), and E. pestifera Werner, Macrobasis fabricu (LeC.), 
M. unicolor (Kby.), Pomphopoea aenea (Say), and P. sayi LeC. 
defoliate seedlings in nurseries and in ornamental plantings in 
the Midwest. The ash-gray blister beetle, Epicauta fabriciit (LeC.) 
120 
