NATURAL HISTORY. 7 
first exuvia or skin, a time at which its vessels 
and internal organization are, on account of the 
thinness and transparency of its recently-de- 
veloped skin, more distinctly perceptible than at 
any other period of this creature’s existence. Its 
pre-eminent qualities as a microscopic object are 
now exhibited in the greatest perfection; its 
anatomical structure is more delicate and beau- 
tiful than in any other larva of the Coleoptera 
order, and although its weapons of attack are 
not so formidable in their appearance as in some 
larger species, yet the distinct manner in which 
its internal functions are displayed, more than 
counterbalance this trifling inferiority. 
Before entering on a description of the 
drawing, I should remark, that no figure of this 
species has appeared in print, at least in the 
state here given.* All its internal structure, as 
exhibited in the living subject, is delineated 
with the utmost fidelity; and so minutely are 
the details preserved, that a magnifier is neces- 
sary to show them. 
This larva is armed with a pair of bent for- 
* In vol. iv., plate 31, of Reaumur’s Memoirs of Insects, is 
represented a larva of a Dytiscus, something like this, but 
devoid of any internal display. Also Moses Harris has a 
figure, in plate 26 of his work on Insects, of a species appa- 
rently not very remote from this. 
