104 NATURAL HISTORY. 



nivorous, they are at once provided with instruments for 

 .mastication, and commonly have six feet. They are very 

 voracious, and grow rapidly. Sometimes, however, they 

 remain several years in the larvae state before their met- 

 amorphosis is perfected. These larvae, or soft worms, 

 are found in all the places were the eggs were laid, living 

 on mold, manure, and all decaying substances. When 

 fully grown they pass into the pupa or chrysalis state, in 

 which, seeming totally without life, they require no food, 

 A few, however, spin themselves cocoons for a resting- 

 place during the transition state, remaining simply in 

 their usual home. Most of the nymphae are of a yel- 

 lowish white color ; some are inclosed in a coriaceous cell 

 like the aurelia of the butterfly, in the shape of which 

 the form of the perfected insect is plainly visible. 



The immense number of the Coleoptera or Cockchafer 

 kind, reckoned at twenty-four thousand families, of which 

 the tenth part belongs to Europe, are divided into three 

 parts, namely, Herbivorous, or plant-eaters, Carnivorous, 

 or flesh-eaters, and Anobia, or those that feed on farina- 

 ceous substances, such as the dust of decayed wood, etc. 



I. HERBIVOROUS INSECTS. 



The bodies of insects belonging to this family are cyl- 

 indrical ; the feelers like stiff hairs ; the legs are com- 

 Dosed of a number of joints. Three families belong to 

 this division. Trunk Beetles, or Scarabeae, Leaf-eaters, 

 and Wood Beetles. 



1. ScARABE.E, OR BEETLES, 



With a probosci, have elongated heads, ending with a 

 trunk-like muzzle, on the end of which, gradually grow- 



