m. 643] FOOD HABITS OF COLEOPTERA 



161 



species wliieli remove or change the form of animal and 

 vegetal)le remains and aid in reducing such substances 

 into shape for assimilation by plants. While not strictly 

 belonging to this group, species feeding on low forms 

 of plants such as fungi and those living on dry vegetable 

 and animal matter have been included for the sake of 

 convenience and in order to avoid numerous subdivisions. 

 In other words, the term Saprophaga is used in a very 

 broad sense. 



The Harpactophaga contains the predacious and car- 

 nivorous species, of which tliere are a great munl)er, and 

 whoso activities help to i)reserve a natural balance be- 

 tween certain groups. Many of them are general feeders, 

 appearing to ])e not particular whether their prey is a 

 plant feeder or another ])redatoi-y foi'm. However, in 

 some families, such as the Corriiirillrla . there i. a (h-cided 

 si)ecia1ization as to the ])rey. and such a group is very 

 often an im]iortant specific check to unusual increases in 

 the nu7ubers of plant lice. The Coleoptera attacking 

 living majnmals are few in numl)er. The species in the 

 family Plni upsjiJUdcc consists of a winders bcetk.' found 

 on b(>avrr>. I ii the . the >peeies liave he.Mi found 

 in the ne^. of Mehi mire and bumbU.-hee... Imt their exaet 

 habits are somewhat obscure. It has been suggested that 

 tlie bumble-bee nest is the natural home and that the 

 field mice afford transportation from one nest to another. 



The last grou]) is made up of those families of which 

 little or nothing a])|>ears to be known concerning their 

 food habits. WliiU' this same lack of information is true 

 for a huge mimber of individual species placed in the 

 other groujts, yet enough is known of their general family 

 hal)its so that little risk is run in placing them as family 

 units. This, however, coukl not be done with any cer- 

 tainty in the case of the last class and they are presented 

 simply as a grou]) dilTicult to <-his>ify from a food stand- 

 point. 



The following tables show tlie name of each family, the 

 number of species in tliar faniil\- described up to and in- 



