160 



INTRODUCTION. 



the sides o£ the abdominal segments, and with longer or shorter 

 robust cerci. Several of the larvae and pupae have been beauti- 

 fully figured by Schiodte (De Metamorphosi Eleutheratorum, x, 

 p. 532, pi. v-xii). 



In both the larval and perfect state the members of the family 

 live on vegetable matter in various con- 

 ditions, but chiefly in a dry state, and 

 many species are found among grain, 

 some of them (e. g. Tenehrio molitor, or 

 the " meal beetle ") occasionally doing 

 serious damage in granaries and stores ; 

 in consequence of this habit they are 

 carried all over the world in grain-ships 

 and are, therefore, in many cases, cosmo- 

 politan. 



Some of the Tenebrionid^e are large, 

 black, and often repulsive looking insects 

 (e.g. Blaps, Ocnera, Tentyria,n,ii&Pimelia). 

 The latter are found in salt and sandy 

 places and are sluggish insects, while 

 others, of the same dark colours, run with 

 Fig. 69.— Setenis valga. great velocity ; many have the elytra in 

 part or entirely soldered together and are 

 practically, if not absolutely, apterous : others, again, have large 

 and ample wings, and some are brightly coloured. One of the 

 strangest and most isolated genera of the family is Cossyphus, 



Fig. 70. — Bicqjens boleti. Larva X 3. Pupa X 7. 

 (After Schiodte.) 



of which three or four species occur in India ; they have the 

 appearance of elongate Cassidid^e. The species as a whole vary 

 extremely in form, and it is hard to regard such insects as Blaps 

 gigas and Pcdorus de±~>ressus, for instance, as belonging to the 



