THE COLEOPTERA ABERRANT. 197 



this order, we find the coleopterous structure so modi- 

 fied,, that some of its distinguishing characteristics hegin 

 to disappear. Thus, in the Malacodermi, or soft Coleo- 

 ptera, the wing-cases, as the name of the tribe implies, 

 are so thin as to be pliable. In the genus Meloe, and 

 several others, they are so small as scarcely to cover one 

 half of the body, nor do they form a straight suture : 

 others, having their wing-cases perfect, are destitute of 

 wings. In Baprestis, again, these latter members are 

 so short as not to require a transverse fold; while the 

 females of the glowworms have not the least vestige 

 either of wings or sheaths. It is by these deviations, 

 few, indeed, in comparison to the bulk of the order, but 

 definitely and strongly marked, that the graduated scale 

 of nature is preserved in harmony, and the symbols of 

 the animal world are shown. All these deviations either 

 show the passage to the Hymenoptera on one side, or 

 to the Neuroptera on the other ; or they will evince 

 clear and strongly marked types of analogy, by which 

 the other orders of the Annulosa and the Vertebrata are 

 represented. 



(171.) Having now stated the leading distinctions of 

 the Coleoptera as an order, and touched upon those par- 

 ticular functions they appear intended to perform, we 

 may inquire what other tribes in the animal creation 

 these insects are intended to represent, or, in other 

 words, what are their true analogies in the scale of 

 animal life. If, in the class of Ptilota, we find an order 

 agreeing with the rest in most of their characters, yet 

 possessing only two effective wings, instead of four, we 

 cannot hesitate in pronouncing it the most aberrant, or 

 least typical, division of its class. Now, this is pre- 

 cisely the station in nature which the Coleoptera appear 

 to hold. Hence it follows, that they should represent 

 all of the most aberrant groups in the animal kingdom. 

 This is not merely a theoretical conclusion, but, as we 

 shall subsequently show, is the result of analysis. We 

 have said that the Cokoptera, in their external aspect, 

 o 3 



