530 INSECTA. 



confined to the eastern countries of Asia, and particularly to America ; Madame Merian says that the larva of 

 the species she figured feeds upon the roods of the batatas : the perfect insect is not rare in sugar grounds. 



[Eschscholtz, Sadovski, and Percheron, have recently published monographs of the genus Passalus. Mr. Hope 

 has described various new species of Lucanid;e in the Trans. Zool. Society, vol. i., Culeopterisfs Manual, &c. I 

 have also described some new genera and species in the Annates des Sciences Naturelles, vol. i., and in the Entomol. 

 Magazine, No. 23.] 



The second general section of the Coleoptera, named Heteromera, has five joints in the 

 four anterior tarsi, and one joint less in the two hind tarsi. These insects entirely subsist on 

 vegetable substances, and are divided by us into four great families, the two first of which, in 

 respect to certain portions of their internal organization, have some analogy with the first of 

 the pentamerous Beetles. Some of the Heteromera have the elytra generally hard, the tarsal 

 claws almost always simple, the head ovoid or oval, capable of being posteriorly received into 

 the thoracic cavity, or sometimes narrowed behind, but never forming a sudden neck at its 

 base : many of them avoid the light. This division comprises the three following families, 

 fMelasoma, Taxicornes, and Stenelt/tra]. 



THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE COLEOPTERA HETEROMERA,— 



f 



The Melasoma, — 



Is composed of insects of a black or ashy colour, and unvaried, whence the name of the family ; they 

 are for the most part apterous, with the elytra often soldered together ; the antenna; entirely or partly 

 inoniliform, nearly of equal thickness throughout, or slightly thickened at the tip, inserted beneath 

 the produced margins of the head, and having the third joint generally elongate; the mandibles bifid 

 >r notched at the tip ; and having also a horny tooth at the inner edge of the maxilla; ; all the joints of 

 the tarsi are entire, and the eyes oblong and but slightly elevated, which, according to Marcel de Serres, 

 indicates their nocturnal habits. Tbey live for the most part in the ground, beneath stones, or in the 

 sand ; often also in low and dark parts of buildings, such as cellars, stables, &c. 



The adipose tissue of these Heteromera is so much more abundant than in the following, that even 

 when stuck upon a pin they are able to live nearly six months without food, as I ascertained in some 

 specimens of Akis. 



We divide this family, which corresponds with the genns Tenebrio of Linnaeus, from the absence or 

 presence of wings. Amongst those which are destitute of these organs, a first tribe, Pimehariw, is 

 composed of those which have the palpi subliliform, and not terminated by a distinctly hatchet-shaped 

 joint. This tribe is named from the very numerous genus, — 



Pimelia, Fabr. 



[None of the species are found in this country.] 



Pimelia proper, consists of species peculiar to the shores of the Mediterranean, Western and Southern Asia 

 (except India), and Africa, which have the body more or less oval, with the thorax narrower behind than the 

 elytra ; the front margin of the head straight, without a tooth in the middle, or a deep notch for the reception of 

 the antennae ; the two terminal joints of the antennae distinct, and the mentum more or less heart-shaped. M. 

 Fischer has divided the species into three genera, but the characters do not appear to be sufficiently marked. A 

 very remarkable species. — 



1 coronata, is peculiar to Upper Egypt, where it is found in the tombs ; it is about an inch and a half long, 

 black, with a row of short spines bent backwards along the edges of the elytra. 



Trachyderma, Latr., consists of Pimeliae with a narrower abdomen. 



Cryptochile, Latr., differs in their shorter form, with the mentum concealed by the prosternum. They are pe- 

 culiar to the southern extremity of Africa. 



The three following subgenera differ from Pimelia in having the body short, gibbous above, with the thorax 

 short, and as broad behind as the elytra. 



Erodius, Latr., has the last two joints of the antenna? united into a small club, the body generally swollen, and 

 the fore tibiae with a spur in the middle. 



Zophosis, Latr., has the antennae nearly filiform, or slightly thickening to the tip, with the tenth joint dist.n.;t 

 from the preceding, and the third scarcely larger than the second. 



Nyctelia, Latr., differs from the last in the much greater length of the third joint of the antennae. The species 

 are from South America, whilst those of Erodius and Zophosis are found in the Old World. 



Hegeter, Latr. (having the thorax trapeziform), and 



Tentyria, Latr. (with the head rather broader than the thorax, and antennae longer than in Akis), are separated 



