436 THE INSECT WORLD. 



in the larva state (in the case of the cockchafer three years), the 

 insect changes into a pupa, which remains in a state of complete 

 immobility. After a certain time, the pupa bursts its envelope and 

 assumes the form of a perfect insect. The Coleoptera present the 

 utmost variety of habits as regards their habitations and food. One 

 does not find in this Order those admirable instincts, those manifesta- 

 tions of intelligence, which bring certain Hymenoptera near to those 

 beings which are highest in the animal scale ; but they offer 

 peculiarities very well deserving serious and profound study. Some 

 are carnivorous, and thus they are useful to man in destroying other 

 noxious insects, which they seek on the ground, on low plants, on 

 trees, and even in the depths of the waters. Many of these Coleop- 

 tera feed on animal matter in a state of putrefaction. We may look 

 on them as useful auxiliaries : they are Nature's undertakers. 



A great number live in the excrements of animals. The dung of 

 oxen, buffaloes, and camels affords shelter to Coleoptera of different 

 families, which thus live on vegetable matter more or less animalised. 

 Others attack skins and dried animals in general ; and some are the 

 pest of entomological collections. Lastly, immense legions of 

 Coleoptera are phytophagous ; that is to say, they attack roots, bark, 

 wood, leaves, and fruits, and cause much annoyance to the agricul- 

 turist. Above all, the larvae are to be dreaded. Those which live in 

 wood may in a few years occasion the loss of trees, vigorous and full 

 of life ; or completely destroy the beams of a building. Certain larvae, 

 such as those of the cockchafer, eat away the roots of vegetables, and 

 so destroy the harvests. Others, lastly, devour the leaves and the 

 stalks of plants, attack the flowers in the gardens, or the corn in the 

 barns ; and so man makes desperate war against them. 



In the immense variety of known Coleoptera we must be con- 

 tented to choose those types which are most prominent and most 

 characteristic. We will begin with the Scarabceides^ with their heavy 

 compact body, and short antennas, terminated by a foliaceous club. \ 

 It is to this tribe that belongs the beautiful Rose Beetle {Cetonia 

 aurata), which lives on roses ; the Cockchafer {Meioiontha vulgaris) ; 

 the Scarahceus of the Egyptians ; &c. 



This is the most interesting tribe of the whole Order Coleoptera. 

 It corresponds with the great division of the Lamellicornes of Latreille. 

 This name of Lafnelliconies was intended to remind us of the arrange- 

 ment into laminae, more or less close together, of the club of the 

 antennae of these insects. Many Scarabcei have their mandibles 

 membranous, or at least partially so, and always small. This 

 peculiarity corresponds to their habits. Never, indeed, have they to 



