COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 113 



of the anterior tarsi are dilated so as to form a c-.r- 

 cular plate, fringed round the edges with strong 

 hairs ; the under side of this plate is more or less 

 thickly covered with small circular cups, some of 

 which are placed on footstalks, and others are nearly 

 sessile ; two of the largest of these cups are situated 

 near the base of the plate, the whole apparatus 

 forming a powerful sucker. A very beautiful and 

 curious appendage, designed probably to serve a si- 

 milar end, has been noticed on the under side of the 

 tarsi of a dark-brown beetle (Harpalus ruficornis)^ 

 found everywhere throughout Britain, under stones 

 and among rubbish. 



The third and last primary division of the body 

 is the abdomen, an important portion of the animal 

 economy. It is generally the largest part of the in- 

 sect, and is closely attached to the hinder extremity 

 of the thorax. It is unprovided with locomotive 

 organs, and is composed of rings or segments, on 

 both sides of which are placed rounded openings, 

 named stigmata, or breathing holes, through which 

 the fluids become aerated. Many Coleoptera have 

 a tubular retractile piece at the extremity, termed 

 an ovipositor, which forms a funnel for conveying 

 the eggs in safety to their appointed nidus ; but no 

 insect in this order is possessed of any appendage 

 analogous to a sting. The abdomen is generally 

 larger in the females than in the opposite sex, and 

 differs in the form of the terminal segments, besides 

 having one fewer than the males. We now proceed 

 H 



