COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 47 



by rapine ; the latter are scavengers, and subsist on 

 the dung of quadrupeds. The mandibles are generally 

 armed with teeth, and those teeth are divided into 



Geotrupes stercorarius. 



incisive, laniar>', and molary, as in the Mammaha , 

 they are not, however, fixed into the mandibles, but 

 form an actual part of those organs. Underneath 

 the mandibles are the maxillae, placed one on each 

 side of the labium. They are occasionally employed 

 in lacerating the food, but their primary use seems 

 to be to hold and presen-e it from falling, while the 

 mandibles are employed in its laceration. In looking 

 at the mouth of a beetle, you will probably observe 

 some parts which I have not yet named. These are 

 not essential, like those I have already mentioned. 

 They are termed Palpi, and have a trivial appellation, 

 derived from the peculiar part of the mouth to which 



