COLEOPTERA. 7^ 



that precede it. The head is a little wider than the thorax. These 

 characters distinguish it from Zonitis. The antennae of the males 

 are sometimes irregular and even semipectinated. 



C. vesicatorias ; Meloe vesicatorius, L,; Oliv., Col, III. 46, 1, 

 1, a, b, c. (The Spanish Fly.) From six to ten lines in length, 

 uf a glossy-golden-grecn, with simple, regular, black antennae. 

 This insect, well known for its medical uses, has furnished M. 

 Victor Audouin, with the subject of an excellent Memoir, pub- 

 lished in the Ann. des Sc. Nat. IX. p. 31. pi. xlii and xliii ; 

 he there minutely describes its anatomy, the external sexual dif- 

 ferences which had hitherto remained unnoticed, its mode of 

 copulation, &c. Excellent figures, drawn with the greatest care 

 by Guerin, give additional value to these interesting facts. 



This Insect appears in France, near the time of the summer 

 solstice, and is more particularly found about the Ash and Lilac, 

 on the leaves of which it feeds ; it diffuses a highly penetrating 

 odour. The larvse lives in the ground and gnaws the roots of 

 plants. In the United States of America, the species called by 

 Fabricius the vittata, and which abounds on the potatoe plants, 

 is applied to the same uses as the one of which we are speaking *, 



Zonitis, Fab, — Apalus, Oliv. 



The antennae, those of the males particularly, more slender than 

 in Cantharis, and the length of their second joint at least equal to 

 half that of the third. The maxillary palpi are filiform, and the last 

 joint is almost cylindrical. The hedd is somewhat prolonged ante- 

 riorly, and is the width of the thorax. These Insects are found on 

 flowers f. 



The males of the two following subgenera present a truly insu- 

 lated character : the terminal lobe of their maxillae is extended into 

 a sort of thread, more or less long, silky and curved. Such is 



Nemognathus, Lat. — Zonitis, Fab., 



Where the antennae are filiform, with the second joint shorter than 

 the fourth ; the thorax is almost square, or rounded laterally \. 



Gnathium, Kirb., 



Where the antennae are somewhat larger towards the extremity, 

 with their second joint almost as long as the fourth. The thorax is 

 bell-shaped, and narrowed anteriorly §. 



Finally, the last subgenus of this tribe, or 



* See Fabricius, Olivier, Schoenherr ; the Entomog. Imp. Russ., of Fischer ; the 

 Spec. Entom. Bras, of Kliig, and the Insect. Spec. Nov., Germar. 



t The Zonitis of Fabricius, those species excepted which belong to the following 

 subgenus. See also Encyc. Method., article Apale. 



* The Zonitis chri/somelina, rostrata, and vittata, Fab. See Lat., Gener. Crust, et 

 Insect., II, p. 222. 



§ Gnathium Francilloni, Kirb., Lin. Trans. XII, xxii, 6. This subgenus, from the 

 form of the antennre and that of the thorax, should come directly after that of Can- 

 tharis. The tribe should be terminated bv Sitaris and Zonitis. 



