THE LAMPYRID^. 319 



were it practicable. It is sufficient to state, therefore, 

 that not merely the elytra, but the whole body and 

 limbs, of these beetles are soft ; that nearly all are very 

 much depressed ; that the elytra do not embrace the 

 body, as in ordinary beetles ; and that the head is never 

 sunk in the thorax. Whether any subordinate characters 

 may be furnished by the larvae, it is impossible to say. 

 It seems, however, that in more than one instance, 

 among the typical forms, these are furnished with cau- 

 dal appendages, — a circumstance which tends, in this in- 

 stance also, to corroborate MacLeay's impression of this 

 being the thysanuriform type of the Coleoptera; in which 

 case it would be perfectly analogous to Podura by its 

 larva, to Staphylinus by the perfect insect, and to all 

 others related by analogy to these groups. 



(285.) As we are now proceeding by synthesis, we 

 shall make no attempt to throw these insects into a 

 circular series, — a process which might rather tend to 

 retard the investigation they require, than to strengthen 

 our present theory. Nevertheless, as some mode of ar- 

 rangement becomes absolutely necessary, we shall inti- 

 mate what appear to us — for reasons subsequently 

 stated — the primary types or families of the whole. 

 These may be represented by the following five genera : 

 — 1. Lampyris ; 2. Meloe ; 3. Lymexilon; 'i. Mor- 

 della; and, 5. Lycus. 



(286.) The Lampyridce, or glowworms, if not the 

 most typical, are certainly the sub-typical family, of the 

 whole order. Its most predominating character is to 

 have the thorax dilated into a shield, the margins of 

 which project on every side, and very often entirely con- 

 ceal the head ; the legs are short, with all the joints un- 

 usually compressed, the tarsi of nearly equal thickness 

 throughout, and the apparent joints only four. The an- 

 tenna are variable in the different genera : in some, they 

 are remarkably pectinated ; in others serrated ; many are 

 merely compressed; while, in the aberrant divisions, they 

 are almost filiform. The body is always long, generally 

 narrow, and remarkably soft. The genus Amydetcs, 



