432 INSKCTA. 



tibise almost cylindrical, or in the form of an elongated cone, and the 

 spurs at their extremity of an equal size. 



The sixth and last section of the Scarabaeides, that of the Meli- 

 TOPHiLijis composed of Insects in which the body i& 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 base 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 antennae 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 maxillae 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 Scarabaeides their 

 alimentary canal is the shortest. The external tunic of the chylific 

 ventricle is usually covered with extremely small, superficial papillae, 

 in the form of salient points. The inflation which terminates the 

 small intestine is not cavernous, as in the Melolonthae. The copu- 

 lating armature of the males also differs from that of the latter. 

 Each testis consists of ten or twelve spermatic capsules. Their pe- 

 culiar ducts do not unite in one common point to form the vas defe- 

 rens, but communicate with each other in various ways. The num- 

 ber of vesiculae seminales is from one to three pairs. The ejacu- 

 lating canal is extremely tortuous, and becomes greatly inflated 

 before it penetrates into the organ of copulation(l). 



The larvae 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 



[1) See Ann. des Sc Nat., Ill, p. 235, and IV, p. 178. 



