COLEOPTERA : METAMORPHOSES. 



341 



The metamorphosis of the Coleoptera, or rather its cha- 

 racter, as derived from the state of the pupae, is termed in- 

 complete. The larva resembles a soft fleshy worm, having 

 the head and upper surface of the thoracic segments scaly, 

 and provided with six legs, attached in pairs to the three 

 anterior segments of the body. The head of the larva exhi- 

 bits, in an undeveloped manner, nearly all the parts of the 

 mouth of the perfect insect. In the place of the facetted 

 eyes are to be seen a number of small granular tubercles, 

 which somewhat resemble the ocelh of the hymenoptera, &c., 

 being often six in number on each side of the head. The 

 jaws are much more developed than the other parts of the 

 mouth, which is, doubtless, owing to the circumstance, that 

 it is in the larva state that the greatest supply of nourish- 

 ment is taken by the insect. The antennae are very small 

 and conical, and generally only four-jointed. The more in- 

 active and concealed these larvae are, the more they exhibit 

 the appearance of a worm or grub, as in the nut-weevil ; those 



A, a branch of the filbert tree ; a, a healed wound caused by the introduction of the egg 

 of the nut weevil ; b, extremity of the nut ; c, exit hole of the grub ; b, the gjub of the 

 nut weevil ; c, the pupa of the same ; o, the perfect insect {Balaninus nucum.') 



of the more carnivorous species are generally more alert, and 

 in the rove beetles we have seen that they exhibit very much 



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