FLIGHT OF THE COLEOPTERA. 19^ 



in a complete suit of natural armour ; diversified, indeed, 

 in the most astonishing manner, according to the differ- 

 ent tribes and families, but adapted,, with infinite skill, 

 to the great object of their preservation. A beetle, in 

 fact, is an insect cased in armour of proof. Let us take 

 a chafer, for instance, or one of those dors, whose 

 " drowsy hum " breaks the stillness of a summer's eve, 

 and examine it closely ; with what admirable precision 

 does all the parts of its armour join and fit into each other ! 

 It will be almost impossible, in fact, to insert the head 

 of a pin between any of the joints j and yet the insect 

 moves about without the slightest embarrassment. Not 

 only is every joint, the most minute, either of the an- 

 tennae or the palpi, completely cased, but even the eyes 

 are often defended in the same manner. This remark- 

 able structure, joined to the circumstance of the wings 

 being protected by two of these pieces, is sufficient to 

 characterise the insects now before us. It may be fur- 

 ther remarked, that the name of the order, devised by 

 Aristotle (/coXeoc? irrepov), happily alludes to the wings 

 being protected or covered by a sheath. 



(l6'5.) The power of flight enjoyed by coleopterous 

 insects, as before remarked, is much more limited than 

 in any other of the Ptilota; while the Lepidoptera soar 

 in mid air, and use their feet only as rests to support the 

 body: and, while the Hymenoptera transport themselves 

 by flight alone, a coleopterous insect appears to use 

 the limited power of its wings as a last resource, or only 

 upon great emergency. Touch a beetle, and, instead of 

 spreading his wings, he either counterfeits death, or he 

 quickens his pace ; but do the same to a moth, a bee, or 

 nearly any other winged insect, and he flies away in a mo- 

 ment. Flight, among the Coleoptera, appears, in short, 

 a subordinate faculty. A casual observer would not 

 suspect that a beetle had wings; for they are completely 

 hidden by the two convex plates, or elytra, beneath 

 which they lie folded, first longitudinally, and then 

 transversely. These members, among all the other Pti- 

 lota, are four ; but in these insects they are only two in 



