COLEOPTERA . 
531 
her eggs upon it. The larvae that hatch from these eggs 
feed upon the food thus provided for them. There are 
many accounts of exhibitions of remarkable strength and 
sagacity by burying-beetles. A pair of these insects have 
been known to roll a large dead rat several feet in order to 
get it upon a suitable spot for burying. 
The members of the genus Silpha are very much flat 
tened (Fig. 639). The prothorax is round in 
outline, with very thin edges which overlap the 
wing-covers somewhat. The body is not nearly 
as stout as that of a burying-beetle, being fitted 
for creeping under dead animals instead of for 
performing deeds requiring great strength. 
In some of the minute members of the family the body 
is nearly hemispherical. 
The family SCYDMyENiDiE (Scyd-maen'i-dae) includes 
very small insects found under bark or stones, in ants’ nests, 
or near water. They are small, shining, usually ovate, but 
sometimes slender insects, of a brown color, and more or 
less clothed with erect hairs. Other characters are given in 
the preceding table of families. Nearly fifty North American 
species are known. 
The family PsELAPHlD^E (Pse-laph'i-dae) includes certain 
very small beetles, the larger ones not exceeding one eighth 
inch in length. They resemble rove-beetles in the shortness 
of the wing-covers and in having the dorsal part of the 
abdominal segments entirely horny; but they differ from 
them in that the abdomen is not flexible, and in having 
fewer abdominal segments, there being only five or six on 
the ventral side. The species are of a chestnut-brown color 
and usually slightly pubescent. The elytra and abdomen 
arc convex and usually wider than the head and prothorax. 
These beetles are found under stones and bark, or in ants- 
nests, or flying in the twilight. Nearly one hundred and 
fifty species are known from North America. 
Fig. 639. 
