ANNULOSA: INSECTA. 



361 



of its host. The larvae are active, and possess six feet ; whilst 

 the males (fig. 193) are winged, and fly about with great activity. 



The Strepsiptera are now very generally regarded as an ano- 

 malous and degraded group of the Coleoptera. 



ORDER XIII. COLEOPTERA. Mouth masticatory, furnished 

 with an upper lip or labrum, two mandibles, two maxilla, with 



Fig. 194. Coleoptera. Common Cockchafer (Melolontha, vulgaris). 



maxillary palpi (generally four-jointed}, and a movable lower lip 

 or labium, with two jointed labial palpi. The four wings are 

 usually present, and the anterior pair are not adapted for flight, 

 but are hardened by chitine, so as to form pro- 

 tective cases (elytra) for the posterior wings 

 (fig. 194). The inner margins of the elytra 

 are generally straight, and when in contact 

 they form a longitudinal suture. The pos- 

 terior wings are membranous, and when not 

 in use are folded transversely beneath the 

 elytra. (Amongst deviations from this state 

 of parts may be mentioned the occasional 

 absence or rudimentary condition of the 

 hinder wings, the soldering together of the 

 elytra, the soft and yielding condition of 

 the elytra, or the absence of both elytra and 

 wings.) The eyes are always compound, 

 generally circular, oval, or reniform, but 

 sometimes completely divided. The an- 

 tennae are extremely variable in form, gen- 

 erallv of eleven joints, sometimes of fewer, Fig. 195. <* Rose-chafer 



/ J . - . ' (Cetoma aurata) and 



rarely of twelve or more. The thorax is larva, 

 composed of a pro- meso- and meta-thorax, 

 but when the elytra are closed, only the prothorax and a little 

 plate ("scutellum") belonging to the mesothorax are visible. 



