IX. 

 COLEOPTERA. 



IN collections of insects, the Coleoptera almost always occupy 

 the principal place. They are sought after by collectors on 

 account of the brightness of their colours, of the solidity of 

 their integuments, and the facility with which they can be pre- 

 served. This circumstance has contributed much to give to the 

 Coleopterous Order marked preponderance in the immense series 

 of insects. Many more have been collected than any one has 

 as yet been enabled to describe ; and the collections are encum- 

 bered with species of which no naturalist has yet given an 

 account. 



Admitting that the first-rate collections contain each about 

 twenty-five thousand perfectly distinct species, and that a certain 

 fraction of these treasures is peculiar to each collection, M. Blan- 

 chard came to the conclusion that we must estimate the number 

 at more than a hundred thousand of the species of Coleoptera 

 which would be obtained if the different entomological collections 

 of France, England, and Germany were put together. But every 

 day we see arriving from different regions of the globe new 

 riches, hardly dreamt of up to that time ; and it is not only 

 the small species, but the larger and more beautiful also, 

 which furnish their contingent. It may, then, be believed that, 

 if the entire surface of the earth were carefully explored, we 

 should obtain an incalculable number of Coleoptera, having 

 sufficient characteristics to constitute distinct species or kinds. 



The Coleoptera (from KoXeoe, a sheath, and Trrcpo^, a wing) are 

 insects with four wings. The anterior wings, or elytra, are not used 



