NECROPHAGA AND THEIR ALLIES. 
125 
the anterior being globose instead of nearly oval and 
transverse, and the posterior transverse, semicylin- 
dric, and close together, instead of being separated 
by an elongation of the first ventral segment of the 
abdomen. Their tarsi, also, have the three basal 
joints velvety beneath ; their palpi are filiform, instead 
of short ; they have two lobes to the maxillae (as in 
the Brachypterina ) ; and the elytra are convex, 
covering the whole of the abdomen. Our species are 
all small, shining, and found chiefly on flowers. 
The Coccinellida? ( Aphidiphagi of Latreille, and 
Secu/ripalpes of Mulsant) are hemispherical and convex 
above and flat beneath, with elytra covering the abdo- 
men, and never truncate or punctate-striate ; a short 
transverse thorax, short antenna;, in which the club 
is three-jointed and flat ; the last joint of the maxil- 
lary palpi hatchet-shaped ; the mandibles bifid at 
the tip ; the labrum broad and laterally rounded ; 
the legs short with contractile tibiae, and the 
second joint of the tarsi large and deeply bilobed. 
To Coccinella , — the principal genus in this family, 
— belong the numerous insects known generally as 
“ lady-birds " or “ lady-cows,” so abundant all over 
the kingdom, but especially in hop-counties and on 
the coast, and such good friends to us on account of 
their ” blight "-destroying habits, for it is upon 
Aphides, or plant-lice, that those beetles exist, both in 
their larval and perfect states. 
They have been observed in the southern counties 
to follow the Aphis in swarms, unexpectedly making 
their appearance by thousands, and settling upon 
every available resting-place ; indeed, I have known 
them to occur in such numbers that it has been 
