400 INSECTA. 



in this respect to the former. They are all furnished with 

 wings, and their gait is heavy. 



The body of the larvae is long, almost semicylindrical, soft, 

 frequently rugose, whitish, and divided into twelve annuli, 

 with six squamous feet ; the head is squamous and armed with 

 stout mandibles. Each side of the body is furnished with 

 nine stigmata ; its posterior extremity is thicker, rounded and 

 almost always doubled under it, so that the back being arcu- 

 ated or convex, the animal cannot extend itself in a straight 

 line, crawls badly on a level surface, and falls backwards or 

 on its side at every instant. An idea of their form may be 

 obtained from that of the larva, so well known to gardeners 

 by the name of ver blanc. which is that of the Melolontha 

 vulgaris{\ ). 



Some of them require three or four years to become pupse ; 

 they construct in their place of residence an ovoid shell, or 

 one resembling an elongated ball, composed of earth or the 

 debris of substances they have gnawed, the particles of which 

 are cemented by a glutinous matter produced from their body. 

 Their aliment consists of the dung of various animals, mould, 

 tan, and roots of vegetables, frequently such as are necessary 

 to man, of which they sometimes destroy immense quantities, 

 to the great loss of the cultivator of the soil. The tracheae 

 of these larvae are elastic, while those of the perfect Insect 

 are tubular. There is also a remarkable difference in the 

 nervous system in these two states. The ganglions are less 

 numerous and more closely approximated in the perfect In- 

 sect, and the two posterior ones give off numerous radiating 

 filaments. According to the observations of M. Marcel de 

 Serres on the eyes of Insects, those of most of the Lamelli- 

 cornes present peculiar characters, which approximate their 

 organization to that of the Tenebrionites, Blattae, and other 

 lucifugant Insects. 



The alimentary canal is generally very long, particularly 



(1) Our common grubs, which are so abundant in dung-hills, gardens, &c, are 

 larvae of various species of Lamellicornes. Am. Ed. 



