288 
TRANSFORMA TIONS OF INSECTS. 
hills and manure-heaps ; whilst a few are found upon dead 
bodies. Mushrooms of all kinds are the favourite diet of a 
number of species, and rotten wood and all sorts of vegetable 
and animal remains are enjoyed by a great number of them. 
The Staphylinidce , with their plain legs and antennae, are 
the metamorphosis OF Staphylinus olens. 
evidently more simply organised than the Silphidce and the Sca- 
rab ceidce ; but their larvae are born much more fully developed 
than are those of this last family. The larvae of the Staphylinidce 
are partly covered with a hard integument, and are very active, 
and recall the adult forms, not only by their shapes but by their 
peculiar attitudes. The largest of the Staphylinidce have very 
