THE S TA PITYLINIDsE. 
291 
with short elytra, and they are remarkable on account of their 
antennae, which are swollen at their ends, and their long palps. 
Iselaphus and Claviger , genera to which these beetles belong, 
usually live in ant heaps. The species of the first genus are 
very active, and hide under stones and about moss, and those 
of the second really require the attention of ants for their exis- 
tence, but neither produce larvae viviparously. 
The species of a small family of the Coleoptera do much mis- 
chief to manufactured animal substances. They are called Der- 
mestidce. These insects are always small, and are of grey, brown, 
and dusky colours. Their antennae are short, and terminated by 
a large, club-shaped end, and their mandibles, which are small, 
do not project. It is certain that these insects live upon animal 
matters in the larval state. They attack furs, skins, and leather, 
animals which are in museums, and the dried flesh of bodies, &c. 
Many of them have been transported by shipping from distant 
countries, and have become acclimatised. They have committed 
much mischief in nearly every part of the world, and some of the 
foreign species appear to propagate very rapidly. When they 
are full grown these insects have slender, contractile feet, and 
when they are disturbed they fold them under the body and 
pretend to be dead. The larvae are clothed in an elastic and 
thin integument, which is furnished with hairs collected in 
bundles, in masses, and in slender brushes of great elegance 
of form. They are gifted with a certain amount of agility ; 
they have little legs, the tarsus ending in a simple hook, and 
they have small heads, there being usually six eyes on each side. 
The species of Dermestes are readily known by their long bodies 
and their antennae, which consist of ten joints, the last three 
being formed into a club. They are found in houses, and espe- 
cially in warehouses. A remarkable species ( Dermestes lardarius) 
is a black insect, and the bases of its elytra are fawn-coloured and 
marked with three dark points. It consumes very little nourish- 
ment in the adult state, but very much the reverse occurs when 
it is a larva. Then it is a blackish brown insect, covered with 
long tufts of hairs, which are placed in regular series on the 
margin of each segment, and it is a perfect pest to furriers and 
leather-sellers. If it eats lard, as its name indicates, it does not 
T 2 
