32 
INTRODUCTION. 
18. Scavengers of Animal Matter. —There is a very large class 
of insects that live upon refuse animal or vegetable matter as apart from 
those feeding on live plant tissue or on the blood or tissues of animal 
life. Of this class, a portion feed in dung, corpses, etc. The family 
Scarabceidce are a notable example of the dung feeders, the Sarcophagidce 
notable as breeding in corpses, the Formicidce notable as carrying off 
dead insects. Other families are Blattidce, Silphidce , Staphylinidce , Hist- 
eridce, Nitidulidce (? ) Cleridce, Mycetophilidce , Bhyphidce, several Muscidce 
Acalyptratce (Borboridce, Sepsidce) and many Calyptratce, (? ) Phoridce. 
19. Scavengers of Wood. —The insects that feed in dry or de¬ 
caying wood are a distinct class, but it is difficult in some cases to distin¬ 
guish them from the insects that prey on them. The following nine fami¬ 
lies are well known : Termitidce, Bostrichidce, Ptinidce ( Anobiides ), 
Lymexylonidce , Oedemeridce, Cerambycidce, Anthribidce , Scolytidce. Occa¬ 
sional Tenebrionids and Tineids may be added. 
20. Scavengers of Vegetable Matter.— This is perhaps our 
largest individual class since we have not the data on which to break 
it up into such groups as in the case of Herbivores. It is of extreme im¬ 
portance in the daily routine of agricultural entomology to be able to 
distinguish the harmless insect eating dry dead leaves from the injurious 
one eating living parts of the plant. We can here only enumerate 
the more important families or those in which the habit is known, with 
the remark that fungi are included as food of this class as well as decay¬ 
ing leaves, fruits, blossoms and other soft parts of plants. 
Aptera. 
Blattidce. 
Embiidce. 
Psocidce (? feeding on living fungi). 
Passalidce (larvae). 
Lucanidce (larvae). 
Melolonthidce (larvae). 
Scaphidiidce (fungi). 
Histeridce ? 
Nitidulidce. 
Trogositidce (Peltides on fungi). 
Colydiidce. 
Cryptophagidce. 
Erotylidce (? fungi). 
Endomychidce (? fungi). 
Mycetceidce (fungi). 
Latridiidce (fungi). 
Byrrhidce (plant sap). 
Cioidce (fungi). 
Sphindidce (fungi). 
Dascillidce (Eucinetus on fungi). 
Elateridce (? larvae). 
Nilionidce (fungi). 
Melandryidce. 
