234 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



one tliat had long been known to science, and familiar to all entomol- 

 ogists under the old name of Cdonia Inda. 



Habits of Associated Species. 



The Cetonians, as the associated species have been called, belong to 

 the Lamellicornes, in company with the Rose-bug and May-beetle. 

 They are pre-eminently flower-beetles, their mouth-organs being pro- 

 vided with a brush of hairs with which to collect the pollen of the 

 flowers that they frequent, as those of the golden-rod {SoUdago),et cet. 

 They are diurnal in their habits, flying actively about, with a loud 

 humming noise like that of bees, in the warm and bright sunshine. 



They appear abroad very early in the year, and I have captured ex- 

 amples sporting in sunny places in the woods while lai'ge bodies of 

 snow were to be found elsewhere. Professor Forbes, of Normal, 111., 

 has found the species in the stomach of blue-birds {Slalia sialis L.), 

 shot at Normal, in the month of March. 



The Cetonians were formerly arranged in the family of Cetoniadce, 

 but later they have been placed by Dr. LeConte in the family of 

 Scarabaidce, and in the subfamily Pleiirostidi (from the position of 

 the abdominal spiracles), in which they constitute the tribe Cetoniini. 



Description of the Indian Cetonia. 

 Thirty-one species of this tribe are known to North America, of which 

 the C. Inda, or as it has been designated since the latest authoritative 

 subdivision of the old genus of Cetonia — Euplioria Inda, is our most 

 common species. It is a thick-bodied insect, measuring about six- 

 tenths of an inch in length, by nearly four-tenths broad. Its appear- 

 ance is shown in Fig. 69. Harris describes it 

 as having "a broad body, very obtuse behind, 

 with a triangular thorax, and a little wedge- 

 shaped piece on each side between the hinder 

 angles of the thorax and shoulders of the 

 wing-covers ; the latter, taken together, form 

 an oblong square, but are somewhat notched 

 or widely scalloped on the middle of the outer 

 edges. The head and thorax are dark cop- 

 per-brown or almost black, and thickly covered 

 with short, greenish-yellow hairs ; the wing- 

 cases are light yellowish-brown, but change- 

 Fig. 69.-The Indian Ceton- ^^g ^yjth pearly and metallic tints, and spat- 



la, Edphoria Inda, natural ^ *^ 



size; rt, h, c, enlargements of tered with numerous, irregular, black spots; 

 te"irieg"''"°' "^' "'' ^°'" the underside of the body, which is very hairy, 

 is of a'black color, with the edges of the wings and the legs dull red." 



^American Entomologist, iii, 1880, p. 216. 



