1928] Notes on the Life History of Pelecium sulcatum Guerin 133 
at that time is not yet completely hardened. One adult speci- 
men, entirely black though still somewhat soft, was found in an 
oval cavity in the soil together with fragments of a millipede 
which had probably served as its host. Nothing was observed of 
the habits of the adult beetle; it is able to move fairly quickly 
but does not impress one as a particularly active insect. Adult 
specimens vary greatly in size, probably with the size of the 
host. 
In this brief outline notice has been taken of the late larval 
stage, the pupa, and the adult; the egg and the early larval 
periods remain unknown. This lacuna in our knowledge is un- 
fortunate. Indeed, one of the most interesting questions in the 
life history remains unsolved; the problem, namely, of how the 
Pelecium larva comes to its host. There are two possibilities; 
either the female beetle lays her egg upon the intended victim, 
or the very young larva itself seeks out its prey. 
In 1905, Silvestri described the life history of a lebiine cara- 
bid, Lebia scapularis Fourcroy, which feeds in the larval stage on 
the pupa of the elm leaf beetle, Galerucella luteola Muller. He 
found that the young larva of the Lebia is of an elongate form, 
with well-developed mandibles and legs, and able to move about 
with agility. In this .stage it seeks and attacks a pupa of Galeru- 
cella. Eating voraciously, it soon becomes fusiform in shape, 
increases considerably in size, and, although retaining its ana- 
tomical characters, loses its ease of movement, its legs, now 
comparatively short, scarcely serving to move it slowly even 
when aided by vermicular movements of the abdomen. Later, 
it constructs a cocoon and therein transforms to a second stage 
larva, a pupa, and finally to the adult. 
Silvestri’s account of Lebia suggests that Pelecium likewise 
has a small, active, primary larva which itself seeks out its prey, 
and then, on account of its great increase in size, loses its power 
of rapid movement and becomes the fat, fulsiform, inactive larva 
I have described. As far as my observations go, however, Pele- 
cium has not a distinct secondary larval stage such as Silvestri 
describes for Lebia, and it certainly does not construct a cocoon 
in which to pass the pupal period. 
