524 



Div. 3. AIITICULA.TA,— INSECTA. 



Class 3. 



In the Gcotrupides the antennrc are generally 11 -jointed, the mandibles are generally exposed ana 

 carved, and the upper lip more or less exposed ; the species are generally of black or red colours, with 

 the elytra smooth or simply striated ; the males are often cornuted. They chiefly feed upon 

 cxcrementitious matter. 



Mgialia, Latr. Oiaving tlie body short, thorax transverse and abdomen gibbous, and composed of [a single small 

 British species, found upon our sandy coasts.] Ps. arenar'uis, Gyll., &c.) and 



Cliiron, yiacLeay, {Diasomus, Dalni.), having the body narrow, long, and subcylindric, [and consisting of several 

 exotic species, and i)lacedby Mac Leay amongst the Lucanida'], are botli distinguished by having only nine joints 

 in tlie antennas ; the others have eleven joints, wliich are, however, sometimes difficult in computation, the joint 

 l)reccding the club being sometimes apparently confounded with the basal joint of the club. 



Lethrus differs from the rest in having the club obconical and the mandibles exposed, very large, serrated inter- 

 nally, and with a large tooth in the males. Lethrus ccphalotes, Fabr., according to Fischer, is destructive to young 

 buds anil leaves, whicli it bites off, whence, in Hungary, it is called "the Schneider," and where it does much 

 injury to the vines, crawling backwards, with its food in its jaws, into its hole, each of which is occupied by a male 

 and female ; but in the pairing time a strange male sometimes intrudes, when a battle ensues which only ends in 

 the death or flight of the stranger. 

 Theothersliavethe joints of the club of the antenna; of the ordinary form, and leaf-like. 



Gcotnipes, Latr., has the labrum advanced and transversely square, the jaws are curved and very compressed, and 

 with the club of the antennoe oval or ovoid, the anterior tibi:c long and niultidenticulate, and the clypeus lozenge- 

 shaped : flcarabcciis stercorarius, Linn., [the common Dor, or Shard- 

 borne Beetle. One of the commonest British insects ; there are several 

 others, natives of this country.] Those species which have the thorax 

 of the males cornuted form the [genus Typhceus, Leach], Ccratophyiis, 

 Fischer. Type, Scarabxiis typhceiis, Linn., [or the common English 

 Bull-comber]. 



Ochodccus, Meg., has the labrum strongly notched, the mandibles 

 elongate, triangular, and the fore-tibia; with only two teeth on the 

 outer edge. Melolontha chrysomelina, Fab. [Germany]. 



Those species with the club of the antennas large, orbicular, or sub- 

 globose, the middle joint being encased between the two outer ones, 

 form three subgenera. 



Athyreus, Mac Leay, approaches the Coprophagi in having the middle 

 feet wider apart than the others. 

 Tig. co.-Oeotrupcs stcrcorariui. Elephastomus, Mac Leay, has the clypeus produced into a thick, 



square horn, furcate at tip, and the maxillary palpi very long. Scarab, probosciileus, Schr. [New Holland]. 



JSol/joceriis, Kirby (Odontisi/s, Zeigl.), has one of the mandibles simple, and the other bidontate at the tip; the 

 maxillary palpi scarcely larger than the others. S. mobllicornis, Fabr., a small [rare British species, the male of 

 which has a long erect horn on the head]. 



Jli/bosoriis, Mac Leay, (having the basal joint of the antennae obconical and elongated, the tibia; narrow and elon- 

 gated), and 



Acanthoccrus (having the basal joint of the antenna; very large, dilated above, and the tibi;e lamellar and con- 

 cealing the tarsi), have ten joints in the antenna", the last joint of the palpi elongate, and the mandibles not or but 

 slightly toothed. The species of both arc very small [and e,\otic]. 



In the second division of the Arenicoli, or the Trogides, the antennae are always composed of ten 

 joints, the labrum and mandibles but slightly exposed, the maxilhc armed with teeth ; the body is 

 (lingy-coloiircd, and tubercular above ; their fore-legs are advanced, their thighs covering the head 

 beneath. These insects produce a stridulation by the action of the mesothorax against the sides of the 

 prothoracic cavity. 



Tro.v, Fabr.— These insects are found in the earth or sand, where they appear to devour the roots of vegetables. 

 {Trox arcnariiis and two other British species, of small size.] Mr. Mac Leay has separated the apterous species 

 with the sides of the thorax dilated, under the name of Phobcrus. 



Cryjilodii.i and 31,c<-/iidiiix, Mac Leay, have the extremity of the body not covered by the elytra, and nine joints 

 to the antenna-: Ma'chidius apjiears to me to approach the .Melolontha;. [.Mr. Mac Leay has subsequently discovered 

 that Ciyptodus belongs to the Cetoniida;. Both subgenera are .Vustralian.] 



A third section, Xylop/iili, {Geotrupes and certain Cetonice, Fabr.), has the scutellum distinct, the 

 extremity of the abdomen not covered by the elytra, the claws of the tarsi often unequal, the antennae 

 always 10-jointed, the last three forming a leaf-like mass, the middle leaf never being entirely concealed 

 by the outer ones ; the mandibles horny as well as the maxilLx, which are straight and often toothed. 

 Ad the feet are inserted at equal distances apart. [This section comprises two divisions, corresponding 

 with the families Dynantidce and RutclidcB, Mac Leay.] 



The first division (comprising the Geotrupes of Fabricius) comorises those species, the males of which 



