COLEOPTERA. 389 



squamous feet; the head is squamous and armed with stout mandi- 

 bles. Each side of the body is furnished with nine stigmata; its 

 posterior extremity is thicker, rounded, and almost always doubled 

 under it, so that the back being arcuated or convex, the animal can- 

 not extend itself in a straight line, crawls badly on a level surface, 

 and falls backwards or on its side every instant. An idea of their 

 form may be obtained from that of the larva, so well known to gar- 

 deners by the name of ver blanc^ which is that of the Melolontha 

 vulgar is(l). 



Some of them require three or four years to become pupae; they 

 construct in their place of residence an ovoid shell, or one resem- 

 bling an elongated ball, composed of earth or the debris of substan- 

 ces they have gnawed, the particles of which are cemented by a 

 glutinous matter produced from their body. Their aliment consists 

 of the dung of various animals, mould, tan, and roots of vegetables, 

 (frequently such as are necessary to Man,) of which they sometimes 

 destroy immense quantities, to the great loss of the cultivator of 

 the soil. 



We will divide this family into two tribes. In the first or that of 

 the ScAKABJEiDES, wc find the antennae terminating in a foliaceous 

 and generally plicatile club, and composed in others of joints that 

 fit into each ether, either in the form of a reversed cone or nearly 

 globular. The mandibles are identical or almost similar in both 

 sexes, but the head and thorax of the males exhibit peculiar projec- 

 tions or eminences; sometimes also their antennae are more devel- 

 oped. This tribe corresponds with the genus 



ScARAB^us, Lin. 

 This genus is now divided into several small sections established on charac- 

 ters drawn from the organs of manducation, antennje, and habits. 



The CopROPUAGi or the Scarab seides of our first section, usually have 

 their antennae composed of nine joints, and of eight in the others, the three 

 last forming the club. 



Among the most interesting of the various genera which composed this 

 section is the 



Ateuchus, Web. Fab., 

 Two species of Ateuchus were worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, 

 and formed a part of their system of hieroglyphics. They are sculptured in 



(1) Our common ^rubs, which are so abundant in dung-hills, gardens, 

 &c., are larva of various species of Lamellicornes. 



