182 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



brought forth in the pupa state, enclosed in the egg-shaped skin 

 of the larva, which is nearly as large as the body of the parent in- 

 sect. This egg-like body is soft and white at first, but soon be- 

 comes hard and brown. It is notched at one end, and out of this 

 notched part the enclosed insect makes its way, when it arrives at 

 maturity." This species is probably viviparous, and the larvae 

 are hatched within the body of the parent. 



Pulicidae. Fleas are but wingless flies, with hard, compressed 

 bodies, a long, sucker-like arrangement of their mouth-parts, and 

 large hind legs, formed for leaping. Their metamorphosis is com- 

 plete, the larvae hatched from eggs laid upon hairs, being worm- 

 like, as in flies. They come to maturity in a few days ; spin a sort 

 of cocoon, and change to pupae, when the perfect insects appear 

 in about ten days. Thus a generation may be produced in a 

 month. Different species inhabit man, cats, dogs, &c. Those in- 

 festing the lower animals do not pass from one species to another. 



COLEOPTERA. 



Beetles have been studied much more than other insects ; in this 

 country there have been described some 8,000 species, but from 

 the difBculty of finding their larvae and carrying them through 

 their successive stages of growth, the immature forms of but few 

 native species are known. The family forms are easy to distin- 

 guish and characterize, the genera are based upon marked changes 

 in the different parts of the body, which vary greatly, and some 

 of the best characters lie in the relative size of the head pieces and 

 those pieces that make up the flanks of the three thoracic rings, 

 and the basal joints of the legs. The relative size and the sculpture 

 of the body and of the elytra ; and lastly, the coloration, which 

 varies much among the individuals, afford good specific characters. 



■The most productive places for the occurrence of beetles are 

 alluvial loams, covered with woods, or with rank vegetation, where 

 at the roots of plants or upon their flowers, under leaves, logs and 

 stones, under the bark of decaying trees, and in ditches and by the 

 banks of streams, the species occur in greatest numbers. Grass 

 lauds, mosses and fungi, the surfaces of trees and dead animals, 

 bones, chips, pieces of board and excrement, should be searched 

 diligently. J\Jany are thrown ashore in sea-wrack, or occur under 

 the debris of freshets on river banks. Many Carabidae run on 

 sandy shore. Very early in spring, stones can be upturned, ants 



