COLEOPTEEOUS INSECTS. 185 



LAMELLICORNES. 



This important section of the pentamerous bee- 

 tles is so designated, because the antennae terminate 

 in a club or large knob, composed of several laminae 

 or thin plates, disposed somewhat like the leaves of 

 a book, and which the insects can open and shut at 

 pleasure. They are inserted in a deep excavation, 

 under the lateral edges of the head, and usually con- 

 sist of nine or ten joints. The anterior pair of legs 

 are somewhat adapted for digging, as the tibiae are 

 rather broad, and armed with strong spines on the 

 terminal angles and outer sides. As many of these 

 insects feed on substances in a state of decomposi- 

 tion, which scarcely require any further trituration 

 to fit them for food, the mandibles are sometimes 

 of a membranous substance, — a peculiarity not ob- 

 servable in any other Coleoptera. 



This division is of great extent, the most recent 

 enumeration of its species making them amount to 

 upwards of 2000. Scarcely more than 120 occur in 

 Britain, but several of these are the most conspicu- 

 ous and best known of our native Coleoptera, such, 

 for example, as the Stag-beetle and the Cockchafer. 

 The tropical kinds are distinguished by their mag- 

 nitude, and are by far the most remarkable-looking 

 of their tribe, owing to the variety of form assumed 

 by the head and thorax, and the extraordinary horn- 

 like processes with which these parts are sometimes 

 furnished. Such of the species as feed on flowers 



