LEAF-CHAFEES. 



85 



is one of the icliitc (/ruhs, and is oft«Mi found in old I'of Ird inanuiv. ('i/<-la- 

 (■t']>li<(h(, Latr., forms a coniiectin"; link lietweoii this laniily and the liu- 

 teliihe, all the species being of medium size, of a lijj^ht-yellowish cohn', 

 and with the head and thorax wholly unarmed. In its neneral aspeet, 

 therefore, it resembles the latterj but it wants the ine(iuality of the 

 tarsal claws, widch is the most distinctive character of the Kutelida-, 

 whilst the clypeus is almost consobMated with the front, and thelabruin 

 is hidilen beneath it as in the Dynastiihe. 



Family XXA'I. MELOLONTHID^. 



This is much the most numerous family of [jamellicorns in the Morth 

 American fauna. They can be easily <^stiii<;uished, for the most part, 

 J, ^ |i'"i;:-3'>.| 1,,^- tiieir oblonj^-, somewhat 



cylindrical form, their n n i - 

 formly brown color, and by 

 the hooks of the tarsi, whicli 

 are of equal lenjrth, and bifid 

 or forked at the e.vtrennty. 

 The genus .Melolontha proper, 

 (Polyphylla, ITarris,) dillers 

 from all our other Lamelli- 

 corns in having seven leafets 

 in the club of the antenine of 

 ^ the males, and five in those of 

 #. the females, whilst almost all 

 liamellicorns have but three 

 iMivi.i.oi'iiACA (LAfiiNnsiKUNv) iirscA, FnM : .|iKitciNA, in botli scxcs. They also dif- 



ICii.: — I. iniii!! ill its eiirtlicn fpll ; 3, larva : H. 4, IxH'tle, ,. „ ,... ,. .i • •, n i, , 



si.i.aiMi iKi'k vi.vv-aii.r Kiiey. '1*1 troui the majority of Melo- 



lonthides in being ornamented with spots or stripes which are produced 

 by prostrate white hairs. The s[)e(;ies of the genus Ih)plia are also 

 vju'icgated with patches of minute white scales; and JMacrodactylus, 

 with scales of an ochreous i^olor. The bifid tips of the hooks at tftend 

 of the tarsi can be easily seen with a simple lens, and furnish one of 

 the most distinctive characters of this sub family. The tarsal hooks of 

 lloplia, however, are anomalous. The bind feet have but a single 

 hook which is generally entire ; in the four anterior feet the hooks arc 

 double as usual, but unecpnd, the outer one being larger ami bifid at 

 the tips. This genus is also peculiar in having but one spur at the end 

 of the tibia>. The remarkable genus lAchnanthe is regarded by some as 

 forming the type of a distinct subfamily. 



