2^6 TRAh^SFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 



about half an inch long ; it is of a dark green colour, and is marked 

 with light brown stripes. It is called PJiyllopertha horticola, and 

 every one must have noticed it on trees and bushes during the 

 summer time. 



ll\iQ ScarahceidcB zovcvi^xxsQ. the giants of the order of the Colcoptera, 

 and are well known by their heavy and clumsy bodies, which are 

 solidly protected by an integument which acts like a cuirass, by 

 their rudimentary lips, their strong mandibles, and by their head 

 and prothorax being almost always furnished, in the male insects, 

 with prolongations which look like horns. The species of the 

 genus Scarabmis have their jaws furnished with teeth, and the 

 general structure of their mouths indicates that they live upon 

 hard leaves and even upon woody tissues. The horns which the 

 males carry give them a very curious aspect. These horn-like 

 prolongations present great diversities of shape in different species, 

 and the endeavour to find out their uses does not meet with 

 much success. There is nothing which leads to the suspicion that 

 they have any particular function, when the peculiar habits and 

 method of life of these insects are examined ; so that, if we take a 

 limited view of the question, we may consider them as decorations 

 or ornaments. 



The larger species of the Scarabcsidcs live exclusively in those 

 countries where Nature produces the most luxuriant vegetation, 

 such as the Antilles, South America, and the Moluccas. 



The larvae of these enormous insects live inside the trunks 

 of old trees ; and any one can readily believe the mischief they 

 must do, and what a large quantity of vegetable matter they 

 must consume during their growth. The most remarkable of the 

 larger Scarabccidce is Scarabccus Hevcules ; it has a black body and 

 olive elytra, which are very brilliant and spotted Avith black. The 

 males have the forehead and the prothorax each armed with a 

 prodigiously long horn. Another ScarabcBus is as large as this 

 one, it lives in New Granada, and is black in colour; another, 

 which is covered with a fine layer of hairs, is found in the Brazils ; 

 and the great Scarabccus Atlas, from the island of Amboyna, 

 has a brilliant bronze tint. The Ory'ctcs are the Scarabcuida; of 

 our part of the world, and may be distinguished from the mem- 

 bers of the genus Scarabccus by not having teeth in their jaws. 



