THE RUTILIN^. 



perhaps, quite as large in proportion, as those of Rep- 

 sirnus among the Anoplognathidre, — a family distin- 

 guished for that peculiarity. We can now only further 

 notice the extraordinary abridgement of the elytra in 

 Valgus, the females of which possess an elongate slender 

 exserted ovipositor ; and the parallelism of Inca, in 

 America, to the genus Goliathus in the Old World; but 

 upon this last gigantic genus we shall have further occa- 

 sion to say a few words below. \^W. E. Sh.] 



(185.) The Rutilince, in their general aspect, have 

 much resemblance to the insects of the last division ; 

 but their mandibles are not only, in most instances, 

 prominent, but much stronger, while their texture is 

 horny, and not membranaceous : this latter, as it has 

 been observed, is " an obvious and easily seized character 

 of separation ; " but it is one, unfortunately, which 

 requires not only great anatomical skill in the detection, 

 but inevitably leads to the mutilation and injury of the 

 specimen. In our opinion, a more easy, and therefore 

 a preferable, distinction can be drawn between the two 

 groups, by attending to the structure of the feet. In 

 the Cetoniance, the tarsi are comparatively slender, and 

 the claw joint is always shorter than the length oc- 

 cupied by the four preceding ones. In the Rutilince, 

 on the contrary, the tarsi are remarkably thick, the 

 basal articulations very short, and the claw joint so 

 large and long as to be equal in length to all the others. 

 We, of course, include the genus Anoplognathus in this 

 definition of the Rutilince ; for, so intimately is it 

 connected to this group, that even Mr. Mac Leay admits 

 *'we shall experience no trifling difficulty in the at- 

 tempt to separate them." The typical Anoplognathi 

 are almost exclusively found in New Holland, and are 

 among the most splendid metallic insects of this family, 

 — shining with green and golden reflections, changeable 

 in every position. We know little of their history ; 

 but we have heard that the most common species, 

 round Sydney, fly during the dusk of the evening. The 

 Anoplognathi, indeed, have the mandibles concealed 



p 3 



