ORDER I. 
BEETLES—( COLEOPTERA). 
Figure 1. Figure 2. 

Repandous Tiger Beetle. Six-spotted Tiger Beetle. 
Or the class of Insects the Beetles (Coleoptera) occupy, 
without doubt, the highest rank, as far as regards their ex- 
ternal construction. ‘Their whole body is covered with a 
horny skin, and divided into a head, chest (thorax), and 
hind-body (abdomen). Their organs of mastication are two 
nippers or jaws, with an upper and an under lip. The 
“feelers” (antenne) are probably the organs of hearing. 
The under wings, which are like parchment, are so com- 
pletely covered by two horny upper wings that they seem 
to form one solid mass with the body, which is not the case 
with any other order of Insects. In other animals of this 
class the wings from their position, form, and substance, 
are so different from their bodies, that they seem more like 
accidental appendages. 
3eetles are all oviparous, and undergo a perfect trans- 
formation, or metamorphosis. From the egg proceeds a 
soft-bodied grub or maggot; for instance, the larva of the 
May-beetle, provided with six legs, and the larve of the 
