DEFINITION OF A BEETLE. 7 



elytra, together with other portions of the Beetle, will presently 

 be figured and described. 



The changes, or metamorphoses, of the Beetles, though sin- 

 gularly interesting, are not easily seen, as Beetle larvae require 

 food which is, as a rule, not easily procured, and in many cases 

 is so noisome that few persons would like to meddle with it. 

 A great number are carnivoroiis, feeding upon various living 

 creatures, so that to supply them properly with food is next to 

 impossible ; while, as the majority of them pass two years or 

 more in the larval state, the process of rearing them is tedious 

 as well as difficult. 



A.11 who have had silkworms, or have been in the habit of 

 watching insects when at liberty, are familiar with the appear- 

 ance of the three principal forms assumed by the moths and 

 butterflies in their different stages of growth — the caterpillar, 

 with its soft, cylindrical, ringed body, the pupa or chrysalis, 

 covered with a hard, shelly case, and the perfect insect, with 

 its beautiful wings. Now, although the Beetles pass through 

 similar changes, they do not assume similar forms. The larva 

 of the Beetle is, like that of the moth or butterfly caterpillar, 

 soft and ringed, and sometimes so resembles the caterpillar 

 that it may easily be mistaken by anyone unskilled in ento- 

 mology. Figures of the larvae will be given in connection with 

 the different species. 



Thus far the Beetle and moth bear some resemblance to 

 each other, but when they come to assume the pupal form, 

 they are so dissimilar that no one could possibly mistake one 

 for the other. In the moth pupa all the limbs are hidden 

 under a hard covering, but in the Beetle pupa all the members 

 of the insect are visible, though they are covered with a skin 

 which binds them down, and prevents them from being used 

 until the insect attains its perfect form, and bursts through the 

 investing skin. A figura of the larva and pupa of a Beetle 

 may be seen by referring to the Bacon Beetle [Dermestes lar- 

 darius). Woodcut XI. 



If the reader will carefully examine the various stages of 

 insect life, he will see that, whether the creature be in the 

 larval, pupal, or perfect state, the number of rings of which 

 it is composed are the same. Take, for example, a Beetle 

 larva, and it will be found to consist of thirteen rings, or 



