80 



SiTARis, Lat. — Apalus, Fab., 



Is remarkable for the abrvipt narrowing of the posterior extremity 

 of the elytra, which exposes a portion of the wings. Independently 

 of this, these Insects bear a close resemblance to Zonitis, living in 

 their larva state, like those of the latter subgenus, in the nests of some 

 of the solitary Mason Bees. In Apalus, Fab., properly so called, the 

 elytra are somewhat less narrowed, and the internal extremities of 

 the joints of the antennae are slightly dilated in the manner of little 

 teeth *. 



The third general section of the Coleoptera, that of the Tetra- 

 MERA, consist exclusively of those in which all the tarsi are quadriar- 

 ticulated f . 



All these Insects live on vegetable matters. The feet of their 

 larvae are usually very short, and they are even wanting or are re- 

 placed by mammillae in a great number. The perfect Insect is found 

 on the flowers or leaves of plants. 



I will divide this section into seven families. The larvae of the 

 first four or five most commonly live concealed in the interior of 

 plants, and are generally destitute of feet, or have but very small ones ; 

 many attack the hard or ligneous portions of their domicil. These 

 Coleoptera are the largest of the section. 



FAMILY I. 



RHYNCHOPHORA \. 



This family is distinguished by the entire prolongation of the head, 

 which forms a sort of snout or proboscis. 



* See Lat., Ibid. p. 221 ; Schcenh., Synon. Insect., I, ii, p. 341 ; — Apalus bima- 

 culaius, Fab. 



Messrs. Lepeletier and Serville, in the Encyc. Method., article Sitaris, mention a 

 new genus, Onyctenus, allied to the preceding, but in which one of the divisions of the 

 hooks of the tarsi is dentated. The Lydus of Megerle and Dejean, as we have al- 

 ready seen, presents the same character. 



t If the first joint of a Pentamerous tarsus be very short, and the second acquire 

 in length what the other has lost, the tarsus becomes Tetramerous. Hence, in this 

 respect, some Insects become equivocal. 



+ Since the publication of the first edition of this work, Messrs. Germar and 

 Schoenherr have especially devoted their attention to this family, and created a great 

 number of new genera, amounting (in the work published by the latter on these In- 

 sects in 1826) to one hundred and ninety-four, exclusive of subgenera. To describe 

 them is so much the more at variance with our plan, as it would compel us to enter 

 into a multitude of very minute details. On this subject, therefore, we refer the 

 reader to our article Rhynchophore in the Dictionnaire Classique d'Histoire Naturelle, 

 where we have given a general view of these sections, but in anew, and, as we think, 

 a more natural order. The following is a brief sketch of the same. The Rhyncho- 

 phora, called by Schoenherr CucurKonites, are divided, according as the antennee are 



