326 MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS- 



of the wood-boring weevils to be regarded as a distinct type of form. 

 The Eupoda of Latreille do not appear to constitute a type distinct 

 from Chrysomela (Crioceris and Cassida agreeing in the larvae), and are 

 united by Mr. Kirby under the appropriate name of Phytophaga, whilst 

 the Clavipalpi are evidently most nearly allied to the Endomychidte 

 amongst the Pseudotrimera. Thus the section is reduced to the 

 three primary groups 



Rhyncophora. Head rostrated ; antenna? short, generally elbowed. (Curculio it'w/j.) 

 Longicornes.* Head not rostrated ; antenn;e long ; body oblong. (Cerambyx iL««w.) 

 Phytophaga. Head not rostrated; antenna; short; body") ^p, IT' ^ 



short, rounded. J 



The first goup or subsection, Rhyncophora of Latreille, is 

 distinguished at once by the front of the head being produced 

 into a long snout or rostrum {fig. 40. 19. 22. 23.), at the ex- 

 tremity of which the mouth is situated. In the majority, the body 

 is oval or rounded, and of a firm consistence ; the abdomen is 

 robust and broader than the thorax ; the antennas are short and 

 elbowed, and often terminated in an oval club ; they are inserted 

 at the sides of the rostrum, and are variable in the number of their 

 joints, in some being 12-jointed; the mandibles are small but robust; 

 the palpi always very short and conical ; and the third tarsal joint 

 deeply bilobed ; the legs are of a moderate length, with the posterior 

 thighs often thickened and toothed. 



This subsection is one of the most extensive of the groups of 

 beetles ; the species are for the most part of small or moderate size, 

 few exceeding an inch in length, whilst many are very minute ; in 

 their colours they are very varied, some being ornamented with 

 the most brilliant colours, chiefly arising from minute scales, with 

 which the elytra, &c. are clothed; whence they have been called 

 the representatives of the Lepidoptera amongst beetles.-j- They are 



• As the other subsectional names are of Greek derivation, this subsection might 

 be termed Eucerata, in allusion to the length of the antennae. 



•f- Latreille, in his Hist. Nat. &c., an. xii. vol. xi. p. 51., observes, " Les charan- 

 sonites sont les Lepidopteres des insectes a etuis. Le parallele est encore plus 

 frappant, si Ton considere qu'ils ont aussi uno sorte de trompe, que leurs larves 

 devorent nos vegetaux, de mcme que celles des Lepidopteres, et que la forme de ces 

 larves est tgalement tres differente dans les unes et les autres de I'insecte parfait. 

 La nature, en general, a im certain nomhre de modeles qu'clle reproduit aiiec des modiji- 

 cations, dans tons les classes, et mcme dans les ordres ; " a doctrine lately promulgated 

 by some of our naturalists as an unnoticed clue to the discovery of the natural 

 System. 



