BYRRHIDiE. 
311 
The recorded species are less than twenty, including the cosmo¬ 
politan Dermestes cadaverinus, F., and the species mentioned below. 
Dermestes vulpinus , F., whose larva feeds upon the cocoons of silk 
worms, is common in India, as elsewhere. It is curiously fond of these 
cocoons eating through the silk to reach the pupa within, on which it 
feeds. Cleghorn mentions it as a destructive insect to silk in India, 
the cocoons having to be quickly reeled off to avoid loss. (Indian Mus. 
Notes, I, p. 47.) Silkworm cocoons (containing pupae) must be so 
packed that the beetle cannot get access to them or the cocoons on 
arrival will probably be infested and partly spoiled. Dermestes larva 
is elongate, cylindrical, tapering behind ; the prothorax is large, the 
hind end bears two dorsal hooks and a ventral anal tube. Each segment 
has a dorsal plate, behind which is an erect row of long hairs and 
a backwardly directed row of stiff hairs ; there are longer hairs on the 
sides, and a third row on the prothorax. Aethriostoma undulata, 
Motsch., is found in wheat. Its larva is broad, with short hairs, with 
no anal tube or hooks. The part it plays in wheat is not ascertained 
but it is likely to be predaceous upon the other insects there or to feed 
on their dead bodies. The larva of Attagenus is similar but the seg¬ 
ments are completely hardened above and each segment fits over the 
next ; there are no hooks or anal tube, and each segment is clothed in 
scales, with also a row of hairs which extend on to the sides ; the hind 
end bears a bundle of hairs. A. gloriosce, Fabr., probably occurs in 
India. The larvae of Anthrenus, Tiresias, Trogoderma , are provided 
also with bundles of long hairs on the posterior segments, these hairs 
being moveable and erectile, often of peculiar form; in Anthrenus the 
bundles are on the three posterior segments. A. vorax, Wat., is known 
to attack skins and horns in India, as well as woollen clothes and the 
bristles used in making brushes, and is constantly reported as destruc¬ 
tive. (Plate XVIII.) 
BYRRHIDiE. 
Antennae clubbed. Head retracted , tarsi five-jointed, 
a pr asternal spine fits a mesosternal cavity. 
Small oval beetles, convex and short, of dark colour, found under 
stones and on the soil in temperate regions. They are vegetarian, one 
genus (Chelonarium) living also on the leaves of trees. C. indicum, Or., 
