228 
BRITISH BEETLES. 
the middle of summer in hedges, &c. Its elongate 
larva, flat and white beneath, convex and yellow above, 
spotted with black, and tufted with yellow hairs along 
the sides, has been found under dead leaves at the foot 
of old oak-trees; but its food is not known, though it 
is supposed to be carnivorous. 
The absence of any pectination to the under side of 
the claws of the tarsi distinguishes this species from 
any of the Cistelidx ; its projecting, approximated, 
conic anterior coxae separate it from the Tenehrionidae 
and their allies, and the structure of the cotyloid 
cavities into which these coxaj fit is different from 
that of all the other Heteromera, as they are not open 
on any side. 
The Cistelidjo have the claws of the tarsi pecti- 
nated on the under side ; the mentuin supported by a 
neck; the apical joint of the maxillary palpi very 
large ; the mandibles with a projection on the inside 
of the base; the labrurn distinct; distinct interme- 
diate trochantina ; long legs, slender tibiae, which are 
evidently spurred at the apex; and the penultimate 
joint of the tarsi often apparently bilobed. Their 
eyes are kidney-shaped, and always entirely free, not 
being encroached upon by the front angles of the 
thorax ; and are larger in the males than in the 
females ; in the former sex the antenme, also, being 
always the longest. 
Their larvae are very slender, more or less cylindri- 
cal, and having the apical segment hollowed beneath 
and furnished with a kind of plate, directed backwards, 
and ending in two slender appendages : they are found 
in rotten wood. 
Five of our seven species occuV in flowers or on 
