THE COLEOPTERA PROM A PRACTICAL POINT OF VIEW. 29 



stiuidaid a|»i>lies only wlieu speaking of any one group of beetles as 

 compared with the Coleoptera generally. The same expressions will 

 necessarily vary in force when applied to the species of a particular 

 group as conii)ared with each other, accordingly as the species of that 

 group are large or sinall as compared with the rest of the order; that 

 is to say, a small species of a group of generally large-sized insects 

 may be larger than a large species of a small-sized group. 



LARVuE AND PUP^. 



The larvcv of the Coleoptera are usually soft whitisli grubs ; naked, or 

 with a few scattered hairs ; with a nuindibulate mouth not very unlike 

 that of the perfect insects ; usually furnished with six short feet and a 

 single terminal proleg, but sometimes wholly footless. They live in se- 

 cluded situations, sometimes in the ground, but oftener in the wood or 

 under the bark of decaying trees, or in putrescent animal substances, 

 antl not unfreijuently in nuts and seeds, and in the pulp of fruits. They 

 are rarely found exposed to the light of day, anil therelbre they never 

 exhibit the beauty of coloration, nor the variety of clothing which gives 

 so much interest to the study of the caterpillars, which are the larvie 

 of the moths and buttertlies. The larvic of most of the families of 

 Coleoptera are now pretty well known, but owing to the circum- 

 stances just mentioned, they have generally received but little atten- 

 tion from entomologists compared with that which has been bestowed 

 upon the perfect insects. The larvae of the several families will be 

 more particularly described in their proper connections. 



The^^^a- are rarely inclosed in cocoons, but the larvae, before chang- 

 ing, simply form cells bj- turning themselves round and round in the 

 earth or rotten wood, in which they usually undergo their metamor- 

 l)hoses. Jjut some larva*, especially in the families of Curculionid;e ami 

 Chrysomelida', construct regular cocoons of web, not very unlike those 

 of the nocturnal Lepidoptera, which they attach to the plants upon 

 which they feed. The legs of the pupie are always free, but they are 

 not used, the insects being dormant and motionless during this stage of 

 their existence. 



THE COLEOPTERA FROM A PRACTICAL POINT OF VIEW. 



In order to show more clearly the connection between scientific and 

 practical entomology, in classifying the Coleoptera we have taken the 

 food-habits of the several species as the basis of classification, it being 

 in the nature of their food, and their methods of obtaining it, that in- 

 sects come into the most important relationship to mankind, whether 

 of an injurious or a beneficial character. We refer to the Coleoptera 

 particularly, because they exhibit a much greater diversity of food- 



