108 THE PINE DESTROYER. 



that the Pines alone would supply us with material whereby we 

 might get to know the life-history of almost every typical order of 

 insects and fungi. 



Classification. 



What place does the insect occupy in the Systema Naturce 7 

 Hylurgus piniperda belongs to the order Coleoptera, a very 

 remarkable group of insects numbering many thousands of species, 

 and readily distinguished by the presence of elytra or hard wing- 

 cases. The ordinal name has been borrowed from this pecularity, 

 for the term Coleoptera comes from two Greek words — Kokiog^ a 

 sheath, and impov, a wing — the anterior pair of wings having the 

 form and properties of a sheath, for the purpose of covering and 

 protecting the hinder wings and abdomen of the insect. These 

 sheaths are not used in flight ; they are often richly variegated, and 

 never cross over each other, but He edge to edge down the middle 

 of the insect's back. " The posterior (or hindmost pair of) wings 

 are membranous, presenting a ramification of veins, and usually 

 folding up under the elytra. The mouth of the Coleoptera is 

 provided with mandibles, with jaws, and two quite distinct lips, 

 and is suited for mastication. They undergo omplete metamor- 

 phosis." The order is divided into numerous groups or families, 

 depending in the first instance upon the number of joints in the 

 tarsus or terminal portion of the leg. In some there are five 

 joints, whence the name Pentamera ; next come the Heteromera, 

 in which section are included all those species which have five 

 articulations in the tarsi of the fore and middle legs, and four in 

 the hindermost pair. The third section embraces beetles the 

 whole of whose tarsi have four joints, and these are known as 

 Tetramera ; and finally come such as have three joints, or the 

 Trimera — a limited group, but well known by its common repre- 

 sentative — the Lady-bird or Coccinella. 



Into the subdivisions it is not necessary for me to enter ; I will 

 therefore simply state that Hylurgus belongs, according to some 

 authors, to the group having five joints* to each tarsus, and is 

 therefore classed among the Pentamerous beetles — which is by far 

 the largest of the four sections. 



* See Curtis, III., 104 but cf. Houghton, Br. Ins. p. 147. 



