COLEOPTERA. 



CERAMDYCIDJE. 



363 



these insects (Tragocerus Trans. JEnt. Soc. vol. i. pi. 2.), exhibits a 

 singular formation ; the external lobe being very long and brush-like, 

 the palpi very short and 4-jointed, the basal joint oblong, the three 

 others small, and inserted obliquely at the extremity of the basal 

 joint, forming an angle. A somewhat similar formation exists in the 

 musk beetle (_^ff. 44. 12 ). 



These insects are generally of an elegant form, and beautifully 

 variegated in their colours : they are found in forests, hedges, or 

 woods, sitting upon the trunks of trees, or more rarely upon flowers. 

 Some of the exotic species are remarkable for having the antennae 

 and legs covered with thick pencils of hairs ; others are distin- 

 guished by the emission of a fragrant odour, not unlike that of attar 

 of roses, which is so powerful, that the insects may be discovered 

 upon trees by passers by, in consequence of the scent diffused 

 through the air, and which is retained for a considerable period after 

 death. Hence the generic names Callichroma and Aromia, proposed 

 for these insects by Latreille and Serville. The Cerambyx moschatus 

 Linn, (or musk beetle, as it is generally but improperly termed, the 

 scent scarcely reseiiibling that of this drug) is the only British species 

 belonging to this scented group: it is more than an inch long, of a fine 

 green colour, and is abundant upon willows in the neighbourhood 

 of London. Mr. Dillwyn (Me?norcmd. Swansea Col. p. 49.) conjec- 

 tures that the females remain nearly stationary, and concealed among 

 the leaves of the trees in which the larvae are bred ; and that the 

 fragrance, which he believes is always much more powerful in the 

 female, may be intended, like the light of the glowworm, as a guide 

 for the males. M. Serville also states that the scent is more power- 

 ful at the period of coupling (A?i}i. Soc. Bnt. de France, 1833, 

 p. 560.) 



