TENEBRIO, a genus of insects belonging to the order of coleoptera. The last joint of the antennæ is roundish; the breast is somewhat convex, and margined; the head is stretched forward, and the elytra are stiff. There are 33 species, principally distinguish-
ed by their colour. The larvae of some live in damp places under ground among rubbish; of others in flour and different kinds of food, where they perform their metamorphosis. The perfect insects are very troublesome in houses; eating bread, meat, &c. They precipitately avoid the light; resorting in troops to dark damp cellars, where putrefaction allures and nourishes them. They are all of a very dark gloomy appearance, from which circumstance they take their name.