86 THE ORDER OF COLEOPTERA, 



The followiug table shows the principal N. Americau genera of Melo- 

 lonthides, east of the Rocky Mountains : 



A. Elytra narrowed aud sometimes separate at their tips ; tarsal claws equal and simple ; whule body, 



except elytra, covered with long dense hairs Lichnanthe, 4. 



A A. Elytra not dehiscent ; some or all of the tarsal claws bitid ; body not conspicuously hairy. 



B. Tibia' with one spur, and hind tarsi with a single entire claw Horu.v, 11. 



B B. Tibia- with two spurs ; all the tarsi with two biftd claws. 



C. Club of antenn;e with seven leafets in the male and sis in the female ; body spotted or stri- 

 ped with short, prostrate, whitLsh hairs I'Olyi'HYLLA, 7. 



C C. Club of antenna' with 3 leafets ; color generally uniform. 

 D. Claws chelate or capable of being folded down ui)ou the last tar.sal Joint, minutely cleft at 

 the end, the teeth lying side by side: Ijody parallel and depre,ssed...DRHELONVtiiA, 14. 

 D D. Claws not chelate, strongly bifid, one tooth above the other; body convex. 



E. Anterior coxiP not prominent ; ventral segments soldered together with their sutuies 

 indistinct : medium or large insects, usually more than half an inch in length: 



PHYI.LOrHACiA, 66. 



E E. Anterior cox;e elongated and prominent; ventral segments distinct; small siiecies ; 

 le.ss than half au inch in length. 



F. Body densely clothed with ochreous scales; tarsi very long MACitoKACTVLrfi, 3. 



r F. Body usually clothed with a tine silken pubescense; ventral .segments six; hind 



coxai ver^ broad Seru a, 16. 



r. F F. Body naked; glabrous; ventral segments live ; hind coxa- normal : 



DlPLOTAXIK, 31). 



Lichnunthe vuJpina, Ilentz, is a little more than half an inch long, 

 aud is at once distinguished by its elytra being narrowed and separated 

 at their ends, aud by the body being densely clothed with long rust- 

 yellow hairs. It is quite a rare insect. 



The L. liipina, LeConte, found on the Atlantic coast, is much smaller 

 than the above, and less denselj^ clothed with cinereous hairs. The ely- 

 tra in this species do not separate at the tip. 



The lIopHu trifasciata, Say, is about a third of an inch long, reddish 

 brown, aud more or less covered with whitish scales, which are so ar- 

 ranged on the elytra as to form three imperfect transverse bands. 

 II. modcsta, Hald., is smaller and paler, aud the clothing of the elytra 

 resembles hairs more than scales. The other species are more rare, and 

 several of them inhabit California. Two species of Polyphylla are 

 found in the Eastern States : P. oceidentalis, Linn., in the Southern At- 

 lantic States — often more than an inch in length, with the white down 

 on the elytra arranged in regular stripes ; and, P. variolosa, Heutz, 

 found in the ^Fiddle States, and as far Xorth as Massachusetts — less 

 thau an inch in length, and having the elytra irregularly spotted in- 

 stead of striped. The club of the antenna' is much longer in the males 

 than in the females, a character not peculiar, however, to this genus. 



JJichelonycha, Kirby, is composed of a considerable number of small, 

 elongated, depressed species, usually having the elytra more or less 

 tinted with brassy-green, and often requiring a close examination to 

 distinguish one species from another. Our two common species are the j 

 elongata, Fab., and the linearis of Gyllenhal. They differ slightly in 



