270 TJiAiySFOJiMATIOXS OF IiVSECTS. 



Scarabccidcu proper, the GcoU-iipida;, the Coprina;, and the Pas- 

 su lince. 



The CctoniidcB are very beautiful insects, which hke the honey 

 they obtain from flowers, and which are distinguished from the 

 other tribes of the family by their membranous mouthpieces and 

 the ten joints which compose the antcnnce. There are two groups 

 of them ; and the first, which consists of the Rose Beetle tribe, 

 properly so called, is well known by its containing the genus Cetonia, 

 the commonest species of which, Cetonia aurata, is so abundant 

 everywhere in Europe. It is to be seen during the whole of the 

 summer, and especially in the months of May and June, flying 

 about gardens or resting upon the flowers. It is a beautiful beetle, 

 whose golden-green tints and delicate linear and white orna- 

 mentation strike everybody with admiration, for when it moves in 

 the sunshine, and flies slowly or quickly, the whole of its body 

 looks like a mass of glowing gold-like metal. It is very remark- 

 able that these rose beetles should not fly like most of the 

 others, by extending their elytra at the same time as the mem- 

 branous wings, for they only lift up the elytra slightly, and never 

 separate them ; and this peculiarity is shown in the engraving on 

 the previous page. 



On the left-hand side of the engraving one of these beetles ma)'- 

 be seen flying downwards with its membranous wings extended, 

 but the elytra still cover the whole of the body, as they do in the 

 insect which may be seen at rest on the upper part of the picture 

 and on the right hand. Low down on the right hand is a nymph 

 in its cocoon, and around it are larvcC of different sizes. 



This beautiful beetle chooses the most elegant and elaborately- 

 coloured flowers as its house and food ; it likes to dig deep into the 

 hearts of roses and honeysuckles, the petals of which it eats, and, 

 moreover, it sucks their honey. The females usually lay their 

 eggs in decayed wood at the foot of trees or in their trunks, 

 and some have the extraordinary instinct of depositing them in 

 such curious places as ants' nests. They look like- the larvai of 

 cockchafers, but their heads are much smaller, their legs arc 

 shorter, and the last segment of their body has a little projection 

 upon it which is not observed in those insects with which we 

 are now comparing them. The larva; live together in some 



