
466 THE INSECT WORLD. 
putrefaction. The most remarkable insects of this tribe are the 
Histers, the Silphas, properly so called, and the Necrophori. 
The Listers are small insects, to be recognised by their body 
being almost round, smooth and shining, with the elytra marked 
im) 
Mong 



y a 
| * \\ 
Fig. 450.— Lucanus bellicosus. 
with streaks, and their mandibles pretty well developed. They 
attain to a length of about a fifth of an inch. The Silphe 
thus named on account of their broad and rounded form, art 
of a larger size (about half to three-quarters of an inch) 
of a dark colour, and exhale a sickly odour. When seize 
they disgorge a blackish liquid. They introduce themselve 
under the skin of the carcasses of animals, and devour thei 
flesh to the very bone. The larva, flat and indented, live, lik 
the adults, in carrion. The commonest species 1s the Silph 
obscura, of an intense black, delicately dotted. Two species foun 

