CLERIDiE. 
325 
Drilince. —This sub-family includes less than twenty Indian spe¬ 
cies. Selasia laticeps, Pasc. and Dodecatoma bicolor, Westw., are to be 
found during the rains, delicate yellow and black insects, with pecti¬ 
nate antennae. 
Melyrince. (Malachiince). —These beetles are of small size and 
bright colouring, active by day in some cases and found occasionally 
in great abundance at flowers. The larvae are not known. Over 
thirty species are described and several are common in the plains. 
Hapalochrus fasciatus, F., is a small beetle, coloured in orange and me¬ 
tallic blue, found running on crops and small plants. Laius jucundus, 
Bourg., is smaller, an equally brightly coloured insect, which runs 
actively about in grass and on soil. Prionocerus bicolor, Kedt., is a 
large yellow insect, with the appearance of the typical members of the 
family. Melyris is represented by a small pubescent black insect found 
abundantly on the flower heads of Artemisia in the hills. It is quite 
unlike most Malacodermids, more compact and chitinised, and much 
smaller. Idgia includes the typical forms, brightly coloured insects 
which are active by day and feed on the anthers and stigmas of plants. 
Idgia cardoni , Bourg., has been found to be destructive in this way, 
though not on any scale, destroying the flowering parts of cereals and 
preventing fertilisation. 
Clerid^;. 
Antennce clubbed, dentate or flabellate . Lamellce under 
the tarsal joints. Tarsi five-jointed, but basal 
joints of posterior legs often very sm,all. 
Brightly coloured insects, of small size, the majority with warning 
colouration. Many are banded in bright colours, some uniformly blue 
or other metallic colours. The shape is characteristic, the head and 
thorax narrower than the elytra, the sides parallel, the body cylindrical. 
The antennae are feebly knobbed, moderately long. The head is pro¬ 
minent, the prothorax distinct, the elytra covering the abdomen. The 
legs are of moderate length, formed for running. 
These little beetles are active in flight and are found in the open 
on flowers, on trees, in grass, on fallen wood, at carcases. Some are 
predaceous upon other insects, notably those that bore in wood and 
bamboos. The bamboo boring Bostrichids, as also wood-boring 
