SOFT-WINGED PREDACEOUS BEETLES. 
10!) 
dium size, often prettily colored with orange and blue, and their surface 
is usually more or less pubescent or hairy. They are oblong in form, 
and the thorax is considerably narrower than the elytra. 
These insects are purely carnivorous. The larva} are sometimes found 
under the bark of dead trees, in company with the small wood-eating 
larva}, upon which they subsist. Others are found in the nests of ants, 
and still others in the dried carcases of dead animals. 
The genera of Cleridie is as follows : 
A. Tarsi 5-jointed; thorax rounded at the sides, without a sharp margin. 
15. First tarsal .joint of ordinary length ; body much elongated. 
C. Antenna* 10- jointed, the last very long and Hat Elas.mocerus, 1 sp. 
(J C. Antenna? ll-.jointed ; serrate biit little enlarged at tip. 
1). Eyes finely granulated Tillus, 1. 
I) D. Eyes coarsely granulated Cymatodera, 17. 
15 B. First tarsal joint usually small and concealed beneath the second; body moderately elongated. 
E. Eyes notched, and of moderate size ; head not wider than thorax. 
F. All the palpi enlarged at the tip ; body coarsely punctured and very hairy ; antennal 
club triangular Triciiodes, 6. 
F F. Only the labial palpi enlarged ; body moderately punctured and hairy ; antennal 
club long and loose Clerus, 29. 
E E. Eyes very large and entire ; head much wider than the thorax HYDRO CERA, 22. 
A A. Tarsi 4 -jointed; thorax with a narrow but distinct lateral margin. 
G. Antenna? strongly serrate at the end Enocuum, 4. 
G G. Antenna? terminating in a 3-joiniod flattened club Nkckohia, I>. 
The genera Clerus and Hydnocera are the most numerous in species, 
some of which are sufficiently common. Clerus , Geoffrey, with which 
we include Thanaslmus , Latr., and Thaneroclems, Spin., contains a num- 
ber of prettily marked species, which are sometimes seen running over 
prostrate logs in the forest, in search probably of small wood-eating 
larva}. The Clerus dubius, Fab., is a little more than three-tenths of an 
inch long, of a steel-blue color, the elytra crossed by three orange 
bands. The C. nigrifrons, Say, is upwards of two-tentlis, of a tawny 
yellow color, the elytra cinereous behind, including a broad black 
band ; there is a black spot on the front, and the venter is black. 
C. nigripes, Say, is very similar, but the frontal spot is wanting and the 
venter is red. The G. sanguineus , Say, is of the same size as the last, 
with the thorax brown and the elytra scarlet. 
The llydnocer® are small and obscure insects, less than a quarter of 
an inch in length, hut easily distinguished by their large prominent 
eyes, which cause the head to be wider than the thorax. They are often 
beaten from the leaves of forest trees. 
The genus Trichodcs, llerbst, contains a number of very hairy and 
prettily banded species, the larva} of which devour the larvae of certain 
kinds of bees. Some are found in the nests of the masou-bees, and the 
European T. apiarius has been known to be very destructive to the hive- 
bee. 
The Nccrobia violacea, Oliv., a small dark-blue or greeuish beetle, 
three-twentieths of an inch in length, has been imported from Europe. 
