COLEOPTEBA. 



29 



Anisoxyx, Lat. — Melolontha, Fah. 



The elytra forming a long square, rounded posteriorly ; posterior 

 tibite almost cylindrical, or in the form of an elongated cone, and the 

 spurs at their extremity of an unequal size. 



The sixth and last section of the Scarabaeiucs, that of the Meli- 

 TOPHiLi, is composed of Insects in which the body is depressed, most 

 commonly oval, brilliant, and without horns, and the thorax is trape- 

 ziform, or nearly orbicular ; an axillary part, in the greater number, 

 occupies the space comprised between the posterior angles and the 

 exterior of the base of the elytra. The anus is exposed. The ster- 

 num is frequently extended into a point or projecting horn. The 

 hooks of the tarsi are equ-il and simple. The antennae consist of ten 

 joints, the three last of which form a club, always foliaceous. The 

 labrum and mandibles are concealed, laminiform, flattened, and 

 membranous, or nearly so. The maxillae terminate in a silky, peni- 

 cilliform lobe without horny teeth. The mentum is commonly ovoid, 

 truncated superiorly, or almost square, and the middle of the supe- 

 rior margin more or less concave or emarginate. The ligula is not 

 salient. 



From the anatomical observations of M. Leon Dufour on several 

 of these Insects, we m ;y conclude that of all the Scarabaeides their 

 alimentary canal is the shortest. The external tunic of the chylific 

 ventricle is usually covered with extremely small, superficial papillae, 

 in the form of salient points. The inflation which terminates the 

 small intestine is not cavernous, as in the Melolonthse. The copu- 

 lating armature of the males also diff"ers from that of the latter. Each 

 testis consists of ten or twelve spermatic capsules. Their peculiar 

 ducts do not unite in one common point to form the vas deferens, but 

 communicate with each other in various ways. The number of vesi- 

 culae seminales is from one to three pairs. The ejaculating canal is 

 extremely tortuous, and becomes greatly inflated before it penetrates 

 into the organ of copulation *. 



The larvae live in rotten wood. The perfect Insect is found on 

 flowers, and frequently on trunks of trees that give out a fluid which 

 they suck. 



This section is susceptible of being separated into three principal 

 divisions, the first of which corresponds to the genus Trichius, Fab. ; 

 the second to that of Goliath, Lam. ; and the third to Cetonia, Fab., 

 but reduced and simplified by the abstraction of the second genus, as 

 well as of Rutela and other analogous sections. 



The Melitophili of the two first divisions have no well marked 

 sternal projection ; the lateral portion of the mesosternum, which we 

 have designated by the term axillary — epimera of Audouin — is not 

 generally visible above, or merely occupies a portion of the space 

 comprised between the posterior angles of the thorax and the exte- 

 rior base of the elytra. The thorax does not widen from before pos- 

 teriorly, as in the Cetonise. The outer side of the elytra is not 



* See Ann. des Sc. Nat., III., p. 235, and IV, p. 178. 



