116 
BRITISH BEETLES. 
considerable difference of opinion as to tbe affiuities of 
these insects. 
Tbe Leptinid/E are closely allied to the Silphidss , 
but differ in their long filiform antennae, small anterior 
coxae, and very short metasternum ; the eyes are en- 
tirely wanting, or are represented by translucent eye- 
spots. L. testaceus is a small, oval, much depressed, 
dull-testaceous in sect, which occurs rarely in dead leaves, 
rotten wood mould, birds’ nests, on small rodents, &c. ; 
it has been found very rarely in nests of the black ant, 
Formica fuliginosa,, and in numbers in a humble-bee’s 
nest near Burton-on-Trent. 
The Silphid* exhibit a considerable affinity to the 
Staphylinidse ; having the elytra more or less truncate, 
with the apex of the abdomen exposed and the coxae 
free, the anterior pair being exserted. Their larvae, 
also, are much alike, differing principally in the posses- 
sion of a labrurn by those of the Silphidse. They are 
divided into five tribes, the Olambina, Anisotomina, 
Cholevina, Sphseritina, and Silphina. 
The Clambina have the posterior coxae very large and 
laminated, and the tarsi all four-jointed in both sexes ; 
the head is large and transverse, and the edges of the 
wings are fringed with long hairs, a point which brings 
the tribe into relation with the Triahopterygidse ; it is 
also closely related to Agathidium, as most of the species 
have the power of rolling their body up into a ball ; 
its members are very minute insects, and are found in 
hotbeds, at the bottoms of haystacks, &c. ; in Calyp- 
tomerus ( Comazus) the antennae are ten-jointed, and 
the abdomen has six segments, whereas in Clambus 
the former are nine-jointed, and the latter has five seg- 
ments. 
