588 
THE STUDY OF INSECTS . 
blister-beetles find their way to the nests of solitary bees 
has not yet reached perfection; for many of the larvae at¬ 
tach themselves to flies, wasps, honey-bees, and other flower- 
visiting insects, and merely gain useless transportation 
thereby. 
Nearly two hundred species of blister-beetles have been 
found in this country. The majority of our common species 
belong to the genera named below. 
Meloe .—The beetles of this genus present an exception 
to the characters of the Coleoptera, in that the wing-covers, 
instead of meeting in a straight line down the 
middle of the back, overlap at the base (Fig. 
717). These wing-covers arc short, and the 
wings are lacking. These beetles are called 
oil-beetles in England, on account of the yel¬ 
lowish liquid which oozes from their joints in 
Fig, 717. large drops when they are handled. Our 
most common species is the Buttercup Oil-beetle, Meloe 
angusticollis (Mel'o-e an-gus-ti-col'lis). It may be found in 
meadows and pastures feeding on the leaves of various 
species of buttercups. 
Nemognatha .—The species of the genus Nemognatha 
(Ne-mog'na-tha) are remarkable for having the maxillae 
developed into a long sucking-tube, which is sometimes as 
long as the body, and which resembles somewhat the suck¬ 
ing-tube of a butterfly. A similar modification of the 
maxillae occurs in the genus Gnathium (Gnath'i-um), which 
differs from Nemognatha in having a slight thickening of the 
outer segments of the antennae. The species of these two 
genera occur chiefly in the South and West. 
Our most common species of blister-beetles in the East 
belong to the genus Epicauta (Ep-i-cau'ta). These insects 
feed in the adult state upon the leaves of potato, and upon 
the pollen of goldenrod ; the larvae, so far as is known, are 
parasitic in the egg-cases of locusts. The Pennsylvania 
Blister-beetle, Epicauta pennsylvanica , (E. penn-syl-van'i-ca), 
