On Woodcut VII. Fig. 2, is represented a good example of this genus, Aleochara fuscijpes.

The colour of this Beetle is shining-black. The antennae are short and thickened in the middle. The elytra are red, edged with black, and the legs and base of the antennae are ! red, the thighs being dull-brown instead of red. This insect flies rapidly. It is a common species, and, small as it is, yet is the largest of its genus. It haunts decaying substances, whether animal or vegetable. Fifteen British species are known.

Another member of the same family, Atemeles emarginatus, is shown on Woodcut VII. Fig. 3, and is a rather odd-looking insect. The genus is distinguished by its broad body, and the two projections upon the last joint but one of the abdomen. The second and third joints of the antennae are small. There are only two British species of this genus.

The general colom of this insect is shining-brown. The head is black, and the thorax has a shallow furrow along its disc. The elytra are red-brown, covered with short golden down, and the posterior angles are produced into short sharp spines.

This is one of the parasitic Beetles, residing in the nests of the bank-ant {Formica fusca'), and a smaller species of ant {Myrmica ruginodis). Both these ants are very fond of their guest ; and if the nest be opened, the ants take as much care of the Beetles as of their own young, picking them up in their I jaws, and carrying them into a place of safety. That these | ! Beetles do not eat either the ants, their eggs, or their young is i evident from this fact ; and it is thought probable by many t entomologists that the Beetle discharges some secretion which ■ ' is grateful to the ants, as is the case with sundry Aphides. ^ ^

The little Beetle, Oxypoda luteipennis, which is represented i ) on Woodcut VII. Fig. 4, also belongs to the same family.

The leading characteristics of this genus are as follows. The thorax is much broader behind than in front, and the head is • sunk in it nearly to the eyes. The elytra have a distinct notch at the outer angle of the apex. The abdomen is strongly margined, and the tarsi have the basal joint rather larger than

I the second. The antennae are long, and slightly thickened at the tip. There are fourteen species of this genus.

The head of this species is black, and the thorax is convex, • with a deep pit at the base. Its colour is dusky-black, covered with down. The elytra are dull brick-red, becoming brown at the suture ; the legs are red, and the abdomen is black with red edges to all the segments. The insect is common everywhere.

The Beetle which is our next example of this family belongs to an enormous genus, containing at least 160 species. Its name is Homalota brunnea, and it is drawn on Woodcut VII. Fig. 5.

In this genus the head is without any distinct neck, and the body is narrow and much flattened. The tarsi of the front legs have four joints, and those of the hind legs five joints, the four first joints being equal in size. The joints of the antennae are bead-like.

The present species is a flat, shining, brick-red insect, with i the exception of the bead and the last segment but one of the abdomen, which are grey-black, the abdomen being thickly and rather deeply punctmed. There is a very shallow groove in the middle of the thorax. The legs are pale reddish-brown.

This is a very common insect, and yet Mr. E. A. Smith, who has long given much attention to the Brachelytra, tells me that he cannot fix upon any special locality for it, having found it indifi'erently in sand-pits, on palings, and similar places. Indeed, the whole family is a very bewildering and troublesome one to the investigator, and would require the uninterrupted labom- of several years before it could be thoroughly mastered.

Our last example of this large family is the Beetle called Gyropkoena gentilis, which is drawn on Woodcut VIII. Fig. 1.

The Beetles of this genus are broad in proportion to their length, and much flattened ; yet, in spite of their short bodies, they are able to double, or rather roll, themselves up until they look like anything but insects, and are difficult of detection. The thorax is wider than the head and very short, and the elytra are wider than they are long. The anterior

tarsi have only four joints, and the posterior five joints, the

latter having the basal joint longer than the others.

The species is dusky-red, with a tinge of yellow, with the

exception of the head and a belt on the abdomen, which are

pitchy-black. The thorax has a definite margin, and is thickly

punctured. The legs are paler than the body. It is found on

Gyrophffina gentilis. 2. Quedius dilatatus. 3. Creophilns maxillosus. 4. Pliilonthos inargmatus. 6. Xantholinus glabratus. a, Philonthns, right mandible. 6. Quedius, right mandible. c. Philonthns, labial palpi. d, Quedius, labial palpi. e. Philonthns, antenna.

fungi of various kinds. There is a curious point about this insect which is worth recording. One of the very rarest of the British Brachelytra is a Beetle of the same family, called Myrmedonia Haworthi, one of the parasitic Beetles. When the Gyrophmna gentilis is placed under the magnifier, so as to enlarge it to the size of the Myrmedonia, the two Beetles are almost ei^ctly alike.

I The family of the Tachyporidae comes next in order. These (Beetles ■without any have distinct the head neck. usually The spiracles sunk deeply of the in prothorax the thorax, are conspicuous, and the antennae are before the eyes, on the margin of the forehead. The males have the basal joints of the tarsi dilated. All these Beetles are unrivalled for their speed, and in consequence of this characteristic the name of Tachyporidce, or ‘ swift-footed,’ has been given to them.

Among these insects ■will be found the most troublesome examples of that telescopic shutting up of the body which has ah-eady been mentioned. Mr. E. C. Eye recommends the following plan for preserving the proper shape of the Beetle : — ‘ The best way in mounting them is to put gum arabic, with which a little sugar has been melted, under the tail ; and, as soon as that is dry, gum the entire last segment over -with tragacanth, keeping the abdomen from contracting (if you can) ■with a card brace. They should not be dried quickly.’ Some of these insects are so troublesome in this respect, that the only plan of getting them back into shape is to fix the last segment of the body to the card ■with a tiny drop of coaguline or diamond cement, which soon sets. Then, when it is sufficiently hardened, take the front part of the body in the forceps, and draw it gently forward until the segments of the abdomen have been pulled out to their proper extent. Then put a small drop of coaguline under the thorax, press it down ■with a card brace, and keep it down until it is dry.

OuK first example of this family is a Beetle called Boletobius atncapillus, which is shown on Plate IV. Fig. 1, two specimens being drawn as crawling on the top of a mushroom, and the other in flight. The insects of this genus live in fungi of different kinds, on which account they are called by the name of Boletobius, or ‘ fungus-inhabiting.’ Others are seen as they appear when running in and out of the gills of a mushroom. In this genus, which contains eight species, the body narrows to a point behind, the head is long, the palpi slender, and the antennae are long in proportion to the size of the insect. general colour of this species is glossy-red and shining, me head, breast, scutellum, and tip of the abdomen are black and the elytra are blue-black with a cream-white curved mark

on the shoulder, and a line of the same colour upon the posterior margin. The antennae are rather curiously coloured, the four first joints being black, the next five pale-red, and the last black, like those of the base.

It is a very common insect, and may be found in fungi in the autumn. Indeed, in consequence of their fungi-loving habits, all these Beetles are to be found towards the close of the year. As this is a common species, the reader is recommended to try his hand at setting it in the way abovementioned. Even if three or four be spoiled, plenty more can be procured, and the practice will be invaluable when insects of greater rarity have to be set. None of the Tachyporidse are large, and though most of them frequent fungi, many are found under leaf-heaps, in bones, and similar localities.

The reader will experience no difficulty in identifying the Beetle drawn on Woodcut No. VIII. Fig. 2, wlwn he curious it ; for, in the first place, he will find no other Beetle in finds the same locality, and in the next place, its serrated antennae and shield-like thorax will at once point it out to and round him. The name of this Beetle is Quedi/us ^Velleius'^ dUdtatus.

There are more than twenty species of this genus, which may shield-like thorax. Some of them are exbe known by the ceedingly variable ; one of them, Quedius fulffidus, having been called by no less than thirteen names. The present is broad and black, with a beautiful iridescence on the species and, although so sombrely coloured, is a great acquiabdomen, sition to the cabinet. Formerly it was the rarest of the rare Beetles, and even now is one of the greatest among British that an entomologist can possess ; but, now that its treasures it may perhaps oftener find a place in our locality is known, secret of its rarity is that it is one of the cabinets. The and lives in the nest of the hornet. ]\Ir. parasitic Brachelytra,

Smith, who has paid so much attention to this subject, F. the larva of the Quedius feeds upon that of the thinks that that he has found in a hornet’s nest a hornet, and mentions to be number of dead larvjE, which he believed considerable of the Quedius. Up to the present time, 1871, he has those not found a specimen of the Beetle, though he has opened very nests. We may call it the Hobnet Beetle. many hornets’

Even now that the locality of this Beetle is known, to secure a specimen is no easy matter. In the first place, it is a very exceptional piece of good fortune to find a hornets’ nest that contains a Quedius d/ilatatus, as I can testify from personal experience, having seen plenty of hornets’ nests and never seen a living specimen of this Beetle ; and in the next place, a hornets’ nest cannot be taken like that of the wasp. To take a wasps’ nest is a very easy business, as the wasps always rest at night, and their fortress can be stormed without the least danger. But hornets have an uncomfortable plan of working by night as well as by day, so that no small risk has to be run by anyone who tries to take the nest of a hornet. Moreover, whereas wasps usually make their nests in the groimd, where they can easily be dug out, hornets generally make theirs in the hollows of trees, and often at a considerable height from the ground, so that they cannot be extracted without the use of saw, mallet, and chisel. The late Mr. F. Stone, who probably had more experience with wasps and hornets than any other naturalist, told me that, if he began to cut out a hornets’ nest at midnight, he never expected to finish his task until six or seven next morning, exposed the while to the attacks of hornets that had been out to collect food or material. So it is no wonder that Quedius d/ilatatus should be a valuable acquisition, even though we do know where to find it.

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