COLEOPTERA. . 487 



fourteenth volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society 

 of London ; its larva destroys that of a species of Xylocopa — 

 Teredo; X. morio, Fab. — which perforates the dead trunks of 

 trees, and deposits its ova there in the manner of other Xylo- 

 copae. The author of the Memoir alluded to suspects that the 

 larva of this coleopterous Insect lives on the provisions des- 

 tined for the other, which consequently is starved to death. 

 ' This tribe is composed of the genus 



HoRiA, Fab. 



These Insects inhabit the intra-tropical countries of South America 

 and of the East Indies. One of these species, from the latter, is re- 

 moved from all others by its head, which is narrower than the tho- 

 rax, and by its posterior thighs which are strongly inflated, a cha- 

 racter which perhaps only belongs to one of the sexes. It is the 

 type of my genus Cissites(\). 



The sixth and last tribe, that of the Cantharidi^, is dis- 

 tinguished from the preceding one by the hooks of the tarsi, 

 which are deeply cleft, and seem to be double. The head is 

 usually large, wider, and rounded posteriorly. The thorax is 

 commonly narrowed behind, and approaches the form of a 

 truncated heart ; in others it is almost orbicular. The elytra 

 are frequently somewhat inclined laterally, or tectiform, flat- 

 tened, and rounded. These Insects simulate death when they 

 are seized, and several, thus situated, produce a caustic yel- 

 lowish liquid of a penetrating odour, from the articulations of 

 their feet ; the organs which secrete it have not yet been de- 

 tected. 



Vai'ious species — Meloes^ Mylabres, Cantharides — are em- 

 ployed externally as epispastics, and internally as a powerful 

 stimulant ; the latter use of them however is extremely dan- 

 gerous. 



This tribe is formed of the genus 



Meloe, Lin. 



Which has been divided into several others. The anatomical ob- 



(1) See Lat., Gener. Crust, et Insect., II, p. 211; Fabricius, Schoenherr, Olivier, 

 and the Transactions of the Linnean Society already quoted. 



