ON THE LAMELLICORNES. 509 



the tendinous parts which connect the bones of carcases, the 

 flesh of which has been consumed and devoured long since. 

 Those which inhabit Europe are to be found during the 

 whole summer, but more especially in spring. As soon as 

 they are touched, like Hister^ Byrrhiis, Dermestes, and An- 

 thremis, they glue their feet and antennae against their body, 

 cease their movements during some time, and appear, as it 

 were, dead, until their fear is passed. They sometimes send 

 forth a little sharp sound, which is occasioned by the friction 

 of the base of the abdomen against the interior parietes of 

 the corslet. 



We are not acquainted with the larva of these insects, 

 but it is probable that it lives in carcases, and generally in 

 animal and vegetable substances in a state of putrefaction, or 

 dried up. 



Pallas discovered, in the arid deserts of Tartary, near the 

 rivers Jaicus and Irtis, under carcases dried up by the heat 

 of the sun, a species of Trox which, similar to the European 

 species, gnawed and destroyed the tendinous portions of 

 those carcases. In the description which this author gives 

 of these insects, he names them Scarahcei Silphioides, doubt- 

 less on account of their manner of living similar to that of 

 Silpha. 



The Scarahceus nasicornis of Linnaeus has been taken by 

 M. Latreille as the type of his genus Oryctes. Though 

 this insect presents the general physiognomy and essential 

 characters of the large exotic Scarabsei, it is not less true 

 that it differs from them in its jaws, being rather coriaceous 

 than corneous at their extremity, deprived of teeth, and 

 simply furnished with hairs. The same is the case with those 

 of the Scarabaei, s'llenus^ boas, tarandus, &c. To such spe- 

 cies is the genus Oiyctes limited. The most common species in 

 Europe (Nasicornis), which some authors have named inotik 

 (moine), lives in the half-rotten tan of the oak, and in the 



