36 INSECTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



the other Scarabaeians by their lower jaws, which are gener- 

 ally soft on the inside, and are often provided with a flat brush of 

 hairs, that serves to collect the pollen and juices on which they 

 subsist. Their upper jaws have no grinding plate on the inside. 

 Their antennae consist of ten joints, the last three of which form a 

 three-leaved oval knob. The head is often square, with a large 

 and wide visor, overhanging and entirely concealing the upper- 

 lip. The thorax is either rounded, somewhat square, or trian- 

 gular. The wing-cases do not cover the end of the body. The 

 fore-legs are deeply notched on the outer edge ; and the claws 

 are equal and entire. These beetles are generally of an oblong 

 oval form, somewhat flattened above, and often brilliantly colored 

 and highly polished, sometimes also covered with hairs. Most 

 of the bright-colored kinds are day-fliers ; those of dark and plain 

 tints are generally nocturnal beetles. Some of them are of im- 

 mense size, and have been styled the princes of the beetle tribes ; 

 such are the Incas of South America, and the Goliah beetle 

 (Hegemon Goliatus) of Guinea, the latter being more than four 

 inches long, two inches broad, and thick and heavy in propor- 

 tion. 



Two American Cetonians must suffice as examples in this 

 group. The first is the Indian Cetonia, Cetonia Inda*, one of our 

 earliest visitors in the spring, making its appearance towards the 

 end of April or the beginning of May, when it may sometimes be 

 seen in considerable numbers around the borders of woods, and in 

 dry open fields, flying just above the grass with a loud humming 

 sound, like a humble-bee, for which perhaps it might at first sight 

 be mistaken. Like other insects of the same genus, it has a 

 broad body, very obtuse behind, with a triangular thorax, and a 

 little wedge-shaped piece on each side between the hinder angles 

 of the thorax and the shoulders of the wing-covers ; the latter, 

 taken together, form an oblong square, but are somewhat notched 

 or widely scalloped on the middle of the outer edges. The head 

 and thorax of this beetle are dark copper-brown, or almost black, 

 and thickly covered with short greenish yellow hairs ; the wing- 

 cases are light yellowish brown, but changeable, with pearly and 



* ScarabcEus Indus of Linnaeus, Cetonia barbata of Say. 



