OF THE ORDER COLEOPTERA. 257 



Without any particular regard to method, we shall add 

 a few observations to the structural details of the text. 



The elytra, or sheaths of the membranaceous wings, can 

 only be removed from the body at a right angle. They do 

 not strike the air in flight. Once extended they remain 

 fixed, and their separation constantly precedes the develope- 

 ment of the wings, properly so called. Their form, consistence, 

 and colour, vary much. They sometimes embrace the abdo- 

 men, and are as it were soldered together completely by the 

 suture, which always involves the total absence of the wings. 

 This is observable in anthia and tachypus, among the creo- 

 phagi, in many brachycefa, and weevils ; in lamia, blaps, 

 eury chorus, pimelia, some alurni, and chrysomelae. At other 

 times, as in many galerucse, and in meloe, the elytra, very 

 well distinct and separate, do not protect the entire abdomen, 

 and nevertheless do not cover any membranaceous Avings, 

 which are entirely wanting. While in the rhipiphora, 

 molorchus, aedemera, and sitarides, the elytra narrowed, 

 shortened, and not united in their entire length by a suture, 

 do not suffice to cover the extent of the membranaceous 

 wings. 



The shape of these organs is very various. Their general 

 form is more or less oblong, or inclining to the elliptical. 

 This is the case when they are taken together in their state 

 of repose. Considering them separately, the shape inclines 

 to that of an isoceles triangle, the external side being curvili- 

 near. When truncated, they are of a quadrangular form in 

 general, sometimes trapezoid, sometimes in an oblong, and 

 sometimes in a perfect square. Their proportions are very 

 different ; but for the most part they are twice as long as 

 broad. This, however, is not always the case. In the 

 Buprestis gigas, for instance, the length is three times the 

 breadth. Tn many Staphylinidae they are as wide as they 

 are long, and sometimes wider. Though the general rule is, 



VOL. XIV. s 



