THE CETONIIDJE. 2/1 



numbers. At the approach of winter they grub downwards into 

 the earth, even to the distance of one or two feet, and return 

 again in the spring. Probably they live three years in this manner, 

 and then they construct oval-shaped cocoons out of chips of wood 

 and pieces of rubbish, all of which are glued together by the 

 secretion of the salivary glands. They undergo their metamor- 

 phoses in the cocoon, and they proceed rather rapidly, for the 

 beetle forces itself out in the early summer. Dr. Baird says that a 

 very pretty species is found in the Philippine Islands, which is of 

 a fine brilliant metallic green colour. The ladies of Manilla keep 

 them as pets in small bamboo cages. The beetles of this family 

 of the Cetoniidcs are widely dispersed, but most of them are found 

 in tropical climates, and they vary much in size and in ornamenta- 

 tion in every country. 



There are some beetles of a Brazilian species which rest in the 

 morning time in the plantations of maize, where they are found 

 sitting under the leaves ; they fly during the day round the lofty 

 trees, upon the leaves of which they feed. They are styled the 

 princes of the beetle tribe, but are inferior in size to the Goliaths 

 {Goliathns), which are peculiar to tropical Africa. The same 

 author informs us that the great GoliatJius caciciis is roasted and 

 eaten by the natives. Several species used to fetch very high 

 prices amongst collectors, and as much as ;i^5o have been given 

 for a single specimen. The larva of this species makes a cocoon 

 of mud, and undergoes its metamorphoses in it. 



The Trichiitts, which differ from the CctoniidcB in not having 

 a particular portion of the mesothorax prominent, have a species 

 which is small and black, and which is often seen running about 

 the ground {Valgus hemipterus). It has five spines on its legs, 

 and the female has a long and straight ovipositor, with which it 

 introduces its eggs into the cracks and holes of decaying wood. 



The MelolontJddcB have a very short lower lip and strong man- 

 dibles, which enable them to browse leaves, and the hooks of the 

 legs are constructed in different manners, according to their methods 

 of life. The Cockchafers, or May Bugs, are representative forms of 

 this family. These beetles appear in enormous numbers in some 

 years, and are just as scarce in others ; and this depends upon 

 the long duration of their development. If the spring is warm they 



