OUTLINES OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



61 



CHAPTER XVII. 

 Order COLEOPTERA. Tribe Lamellicornia. 



[Fig. 25.] 



Spotted Pelidnota, (Pelidnula punctata) with larvse and pupffi (after Riley) . 



The Tribe Lamellicornia is of great extent, and in it we find 

 mostly large or medium-sized beetles which feed on vegetation, either 

 fresh or in a state of decay, or on the excrement of the larger animals. 

 These beetles resemble each other chiefly in the form of the antennae, 

 which terminate in a knob or expansion, composed of three — sometimes 

 more — leaf-like blades, attached by one end and capable of being opened 

 or closed like the pages of a book, at the will of the insect. 



Before taking up the true Lamellicorns we find a small group, some- 

 times distinguished as Pecticornta (tooth-horned), in which the anten- 

 nae are furnished at the tips with several stiff projections on one side, 

 like the teeth to a comb, and are further characterized by being bent 

 or elbowed in the middle. 



In this division the principal Family (Lucanid^) contains the Stag 

 beetles or Pinching beetles. In these the head is very broad, the eyes 

 comparatively small, the shanks (tibiae) notched or spined on the outer 

 edge, and the feet are all five-jointed. The great peculiarity, however, 

 is found in the unusual development of the jaws, which protrude from 

 the front of the head, and are from one-fourth to one-half the length 

 of the body, armed with spines and tooth-like projections on their inner 

 edges. The larvae are large, horny textured grubs, with four or six 

 sprangling thoracic legs, and are mostly found in rotten stumps or 

 roots. 



