tenebeionid^e. 
337 
in certain centres in the New World. India possesses but a small 
number of the large total of species and but few come into our plains 
fauna. 
About 300 Indian species are recorded, of which perhaps fifty are 
found in the plains. The individual species are difficult to discrimi¬ 
nate and no comprehensive work on the Indian species is in existence. 
The Cardon and Andrewes collections have been described (Ann. Soc. 
Ent., Beige, 1894, 1896) and a number of species added lately, but the 
literature is scattered and the family requires revision. We are not 
aware of any records of life-histories or habits. 
Polposipus herculeanus, Sol. is a large species covered with hair, 
whose characters are so odd that Lacordaire states that he thought 
the original describer might have had before him a ‘ ‘ faked ’ ’ insect, 
the head, legs and body belonging to three distinct genera. Tenebrio 
contains T . molitor , whose larva is so common in meal and flour and 
which is bred in large numbers as food for cage birds. It is now 
cosmopolitan. Rhytinota, Pachycera, Hyper ops and Himatismus include 
rather elongate beetles of a dead black colour and small size, found 
sometimes in great abundance. The beetles have been collected at 
all times of the year and seem to have no distinct seasons. Blaps 
is the large 4 ‘black beetle” of the plains, with B. orientalis , Sol. 
(Plate XXI, fig. 1), common and B. indicola, Bot., rarer. The former 
is very common and striking ; the elytra are soldered together and, in 
the females, produced into a process behind, which varies much in 
length. This beetle on being handled exudes an unpleasant liquid 
which stains a permanent dull red. Nothing appears to be known as 
to its life-history and all our specimens were captured between Decem¬ 
ber and May. Platynotus perforatus , Muls. (Plate XXI, fig. 5), is also 
very common, a flatter beetle, more distinctly punctured. Scleron 
denticolle, Fairm., and S. orientate , F. (Plate XXI, fig. 13), are small 
retiring beetles, characterised by the curiously flattened and expanded 
fore femur and tibia, apparently for the purpose of digging. 
Opatrum is perhaps the commonest of all the genera, occurring 
sometimes in enormous numbers. There are a variety of species, in¬ 
cluding 0. elongatum, Gfuer. (Plate XXI, fig. 7), which is narrower 
and has the prothorax slightly tuberculate, 0. dorsogranosum, Fairm., 
22 
TIL 
