THE COLEOPTERA. 265 



unusually interesting about them ; but this is not the case. The 

 Colcoptcra have no industrial occupations, and their instincts are 

 very limited. In examining into their physiology we do not find 

 any of those remarkable gifts and instincts, almost amounting to 

 reason, that characterise the Hymenoptcra, and which are amongst 

 the most instructive and wonderful phenomena of Nature. It 

 would appear that the charms of the Coleoptera, and the interest 

 that they have excited amongst naturalists and collectors, are 

 referable to the beauty of some of them, and to the ease with 

 which they may be preserved, in consequence of the density of 

 their structures and the nature of their wings. There is no diffi- 

 culty in distinguishing any one of the beetles from all other 

 insects. The most distinctive character is in the wings, which, 

 so far as the beetles are concerned, are four in number, and in 

 two pairs. The fore wings are always of the same hard coria- 

 ceous texture as the other parts of the body ; they never cross 

 one over the other when the insect is at rest, and they cover 

 the body more or less perfectly. They are sheaths, and act as 

 coverings to the hind pair. The name Coleoptera is taken from 

 this peculiarity (koXco^, sheath ; Trrepa, wings), and the sheaths 

 are usually called " elytra." These elytra, when the insect is at 

 rest, are joined to each other at their inner margins, and thus 

 form a sort of middle line upon the top of the body. They open 

 at right angles with the body and project straight out from it, 

 and remain fixed in that position when the beetle is flying, and 

 they do not beat the air or vibrate so as to produce motion. The 

 hind wings, which are almost always much larger than the fore 

 wings, are membranous, and are marked with many branching 

 nervures, and these wings, when the insect has done flying, fold 

 themselves up and are hidden underneath the elytra. The mem- 

 branous wings are strongly vibrated during flight, and do not 

 remain at right angles to the body like the others. The structures 

 of the mouth are usually well developed and strong, and are 

 fashioned for the purposes of mastication. 



The Coleoptera undergo complete metamorphoses. They are 

 born as larvae, like the Lepidoptera and the Hymenoptera, and 

 the larvae are transformed into immovable or quiet nymphs, which 

 are, like those of the Hyvienopte'^a. the exact casts or models 



