popular iStcttnnary of gmmatclr fixture. 273 



distinctions in the head and fore leg may be 

 plainly seen in the figures. The female of 

 this species is generally regarded also as 



much rarer than the male. This species, as 

 well as one named after Dr. Savage by 

 Dr. Harris of Boston, feeds upon a vine that 

 climbs over very lofty trees. The insects 

 wound the bark of the vine, and extract the 

 juice ; the vine being full of a fluid as taste- 

 less and limpid as water. 



There are several other genera and species 

 of Goliath Beetles, of most of which there 

 are specimens in the collection of the British 

 Museum ; but we must refer our readers to 

 the works of Dr. Burmeister and Mr. West- 

 wood for descriptions and figures of these, 

 it being quite out of the scope of this work 

 to particularize them, splendid as they are. 

 A list of all the species of Cetonidce (includ- 

 ing the Goliath), with reference to figures, 

 has been published, and will show how rich 

 the Museum collection is. 



The next species (figured beneath) is from 

 West Africa also, and is of a most brilliant 

 green colour ; it is the GOLIATHUS (Dicuo- 

 NORHINA) MICANS. The shades on this 

 species vary according as the insect is held 

 to the light. 



This insect seems to be a native of Senegal 

 and the Calabar coast. 



The food of the Goliaths is fluid, like that 

 of the Cetonue and Trichii: the long brushes 

 on their maxilla;, and the diverging rows of 

 hairs that line their lower lips, are admirably 

 fitted for absorbing liquid food, while their 

 horny teeth afford these beetles additional 

 means of obtaining it from the leaves and 



tjicy stems of plants when the blossoms 

 ave disappeared. "Thus every new dis- 

 covery in Natural History, when least ex- 

 pected, serves to increase the evidence of 

 skilful contrivance and perfect adaptation 

 of structure in all organised beings." With 

 this admirable remark of Dr. Harris we 

 conclude this article. [See CETOHIAD^K : 



DlCKOXOCEPHALUS : IlfCA.] 



GOLLACH. [See EAKWIG.] 



GONEPTERYX. A genus of diurnal 

 Lepidoptcra, so named from its angled wings. 

 The British species is found with very slight 

 variation on the Himalaya mountains ; it is 

 the 



GONEPTERYX RHAMNI, or BRIM- 

 STONE BUTTERFLY. This gay and 

 lively-coloured insect is one of the earliest 

 among the Papilionidae that makes its ap- 

 pearance ; sometimes, in favourable weather, 

 even as early as the middle of February. 

 Mr. Knapp, in his Journal of a Naturalist, 

 alludes to this butterfly : 



" The very first butterfly that will 

 ' aloft repair, 



And sport and flutter in the fields of air,* 



is the Sulphur Butterfly (Gonepteryx rham- 

 m), which in the bright sunny mornings of 

 March we so often see under the warm 

 hedge, or by the side of some sheltered copse, 

 undulating and vibrating like the petal of 

 a primrose in the breeze." As the spring 

 advances they may be seen on the wing in < 

 the woods, meadows, and commons, in tole- i 



w 



BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY 

 (OONEPTEBTX RHAMNI.) 



rable plenty ; and as there is a second brood 

 which comes forth about August, there is no , 

 lack of them at any time till autumn sum- ] 

 mons them away. The male is of a pure 

 sulphur-yellow above, and the female of a ] 

 greenish-white ; and in both sexes a small 

 spot of orange occupies the centre of each 

 wing, and a dusky spot at the base : the 

 abdomen is black above and yellow beneath, 

 its base and the thorax thickly clothed with 

 long glossy white silken hairs : the legs are 

 white ; the antennae reddish. The cater- i 

 pillar is green, with a paler line on each side ; 

 of the belly, and very small scale-like black | 



