COLEOPTERA. 29 
Anisonyx, Lat—Me.otontua, Fab. 
The elytra forming a long square, rounded posteriorly; posterior 
tibize almost cylindrical, or in the form of an elongated cone, and the 
spurs at their extremity of an unequal size. 
The sixth and Jast section of the Scarabzides, that of the MELr- 
TOPHILI, is composed of Insects in which the body is depressed, most 
commonly oval, brilliant, and without horns, and the thorax is trape- 
ziform, or nearly orbicular; an axillary part, in the greater number, 
occupies the space comprised between the posterior angles and the 
exterior of the hase of the elytra. The anus is exposed. The ster- 
num is frequently extended into a point or projecting horn. The 
hooks of the tarsi are equal and simple. The antenne consist of ten 
joints, the three last of which form a club, always foliaceous. The 
labrum and mandibles are concealed, laminiform, flattened, and 
membranous, or nearly so. The maxillee terminate in a silky, peni- 
cilliform lobe without horny teeth. The mentum is commonly ovoid, 
truncated superiorly, or almost square, and the middle of the supe- 
rior margin more or less concave or emarginate. The ligula is not 
salient. 
From the anatomical observations of M. Leon Dufour on several 
of these Insects, we may conclude that of all the Scarabeeides their 
alimentary canal is the shortest. The external tunic of the chylific 
ventricle is usually covered with extremely small, superficial papille, 
in the form of salient points. The inflation which terminates the 
small intestine is not cavernous, as in the Melolonthe. The copu- 
lating armature of the males also differs from that of the latter. Each 
testis consists of ten or twelve spermatic capsules. Their peculiar 
ducts do not unite in one common point to form the vas deferens, but 
communicate with each other in various ways. The number of vesi- 
cule seminales is from one to three pairs. ‘The ejaculating canal is 
extremely tortuous, and becomes greatly inflated before it penetrates 
into the organ of copulation *. 
The larvee live in rotten wood. The perfect Insect is found on 
flowers, and frequently on trunks of trees that give out a fluid which 
they suck. 
This section is susceptible of being separated into three principal 
divisions, the first of which corresponds to the genus Trichius, Fab. ; 
the second to that of Goliath, Lam.; and the third to Cetonia, Fab., 
but reduced and simplified by the abstraction of the second genus, as 
well as of Rutela and other analogous sections. 
The Melitophili of the two first divisions have no well marked 
sternal projection; the lateral portion of the mesosternum, which we 
have designated by the term axillary—epimera of Audouin—is not 
generally visible above, or merely occupies a portion of the space 
comprised between the posterior angles of the thorax and the exte- 
rior base of the elytra. The thorax does not widen from before pos- 
teriorly, as in the Cetoniz. The outer side of the elytra is not 
* See Ann. des Sc. Nat., III., p. 235, and IV, p. 178. 
