CO 
THE ORDER OF COLEOPTERA. 
[Fig. 23.) jp S fasciatus, a shining black species, quarter of an 
inch long, with two conspicuous, interrupted reddish 
bands across the elytra. Nitidula bqmstulata, a black- 
ish brown insect, with a yellow dot on the middle of 
^ each elytron, one-sixtli of an inch long; and Omosita 
colon, a little species one-tenth of an inch in length, 
brown, the elytra pale at the tips with two minute dots, 
Il'S FASCIATUS Lar- 1 * 
va ana beetle— af- like a colon — are the three most common species. 
ter Packard. 
Family XI. DERMESTIDiE. 
This family is founded upon the genus Bermcstes, of Linnavus, a name 
[Fig. 23 .) derived from the Greek derma — a olein, and cstliio 
— to devour , and applied to these insects because 
some of the species are destructive to skins and 
furs, and other dried animal substances. They 
differ from the three preceding families in hav- 
ing the abdomen completely covered by the wing- 
cases; but they are more particularly d is tin - 
guished by having the sternum or breast-plate ad- 
vanced under the mouth like a chin-cloth; by 
their short and contractile legs and antennas, and 
by their coloration, which consists of light-colored 
"-Oarva ; '(i! one of spots on a darker ground, the spots being pro- 
Tbccti c g a ftor y Rnt ^ nifled ’ duced by minute scales which can be rubbed off. 
The larvae are rather hard, brown, active grubs, more or less clothed 
with stiff hairs, which usually form a long brush at the end of the body. 
Forty-nine N. American species have been described. 
A. No ocellus nr eye-liko spot on tho front. Size from quarter to half an inch in length : 
Debmestes. 
A A. Frontal ocellus distinct; less than quarter of an inch in length. 
B. Middle coxte not widely separated Attagenus. 
B B. Middle coxic widely separated ; size very small Anthuenus. 
The Bermcstes lardarius, Linn., so called because it is usually found 
upon refuse lard and bacon, is our most common species. It is an ob- 
long oval, black beetle, one-third of an inch in length, with a broad, 
brownish-yellow band across the middle of its body, and in the middle 
of this baud a transverse row of black dots. 
Another species often found in houses, is the Attagenus pellio, which, 
like the former, was originally an European insect, but which has now 
become distributed over the civilized world. It is two-tenths of an inch 
long, black with a white dot on the middle of each wing-cover, which is 
wanting in some specimens, having probably been rubbed off. The 
larva; destroy dried skius, furs and woolens, and are said even to gnaw 
