158 



INSECTS ABEOAD. 



" mourning ; " both names being given to the insect in conse- 

 quence of the sober black and white of its colouring. 



'The splendid insect which is shown in the accompanying 

 illustration belongs to another group of Elaters. If the reader 

 will look at the figure of the Alans and at that of our present 

 species, he will see that the ends of the elytra are, in the former 

 insect, blunt and rounded, and in the latter, drawn out into long 

 sharp points. The name Oxynoptcridcs, which is given to this 

 group, signifies " sharp-winged," and refers to this formation. 



_^^^ ,^- 



74. — Oxynopterus Cumiiigii, 

 (Reddish browu.) 



The most striking point in the appearance of this insect is the 

 beautifully feathered structure of the antennai in the male. To 

 each of the joints is attached a long, narrow, flat projection, or 

 " fiabellum," not unlike those of the Lamellicorn Beetles, which 

 gives to the whole organ the appearance of a fan. The female 

 does not possess these beautiful appendages, her antennse being 

 only toothed, the point of each tooth showing where the flabellum 

 would l)e in the other sex. So important is the antenna in tlie 

 general appearance of the insect, that although the female is 

 larger than the male, she absolutely seems to be smaller, so much 



