272 



FAMILY TILL SILPHID.E. 



I . Leptlx u s Mull. 181 i . ( Gr. . ' ; thin or small. ' ' ) 



532 (1692). LEPTixrs testacetts Mull.. Germ. Mag. Ent. II. 1S1T, 268. 



Oblong-oval, much depressed. Uniform pale yellow. Above finely and 

 regularly punctured and rather thickly pubescent with golden hairs. Length 

 2-2.5 mm. (Fig. 133.) 



Lake. Marion. Putnam and Perry counties: frequent. March 

 11-Deeeniber 1. Evidently hibernates as imago. 



Family VUL SILPHLD^. 



Tfle Carrion Beetle. 



\\ Tierever decaying animal matter occurs, especially dead birds, 

 mice or snakes, the larger members of this family can usually be 

 found. The smaller species live more commonly in decaying fungi, 

 while a few occur only in the nests of ants. * The name Silphida? is 

 founded upon that of the principal genus Silpha, a name of Greek 

 origin indicating a foetid odor. The larger members of the family, 

 belonging to the genera Xecropliorus and Silplia. range in size be- 

 tween one-half and one and a half inches. Then eggs are deposited 

 in the bodies of small mammals or fragments of putrid flesh, which 

 are then buried from several inches to nearly a foot in the ground. 

 A pair of the beetles will thus bury the body of a mouse or mole 

 with great rapidity. The larva?, on hatching from the eggs, feed 

 upon the decaying flesh, and are said to even devour the bones of 

 small mammals. 



From allied families the members of the Silphida? may be known 

 by having the eyes finely granulated, sometimes (in cave species ) 

 absent : antennae 11-. rarely 9- or 10- jointed, gradually or suddenly 

 clubbed at apex and inserted under the margin of the front, behind 

 the base of mandibles : thorax without distinct side pieces beneath ; 

 mesosternum very short, the side pieces closing the coxal cavities on 

 the sides: metasternmn large, truncate behind: front coxa? large, 

 conical, contiguous: hind coxa? contiguous: abdomen with five or 

 six free ventral segments : legs variable, sometimes thick and fitted 

 for digging, sometimes slender: tibia? with large terminal spurs: 

 tarsi usually 5-jointed. 



The principal literature treating of the Xorth American species 

 is embodied in the two following papers : 



LfConif. — " Synopsis of the Silphida? of North America.'* in 

 Proc. Phil. Acad. Nat Sci.. VI. 1853. 271-287. 



