COLKOPTERA. 537 



vation of M. Farines, the larva of the two-spottcil Ri]iiphorus lives and imder^^ocs its dian^^es in the staik of 

 the Eiyni/ium campcstre. 



Mi/oditcs, Latr. {Ripidim, Tlumb.), has the wings also extended, but the elytra arc very short ; tlie antenns .ire 

 very strongly feathered ; the tarsal claws are toothed. 



Pelecotoma, Fisch., has also the tarsal claws toothed, but the win;^s [and abdomen] are entirely covered by the 

 elytra. [Exotic insects, of moderate size.] In the others the palpi are terminated by a lar{,^e hatcbet-shaped 

 joint ; the mandibles are biiid at the tips, and the antennreof the males are only serrated. 



Mordcllay Linn., has the antennae of equal thickness throughout, and slightly serrated in the males ; the eyes are 

 not emaryinate, [and the abdomen is terminated by a long point. M. acideaia, Linn., and many other small 

 British species]. 



Anasph; Geotfr., has the antonn;e simple, and rather thickened to the tips, the eyes notched, [and the abdomen 

 not pointed]. A. fronialin [and numerous other minute British insects]. 



The fourth tribe, Jnihicides, possesses simple or but slightly serrated and filiform antennre, or but little 

 thickened at the tips ; tlie joints very nearly alike, except the last, which is rather longer, and oval ; the 

 maxillary palpi are terminated by a hatchet-shaped joint ; the penultimate joint of the tarsi is bilobed ; the 

 body narrower in front, with the eyes entire or scarcely emarginate. Some of these species are found 

 upon plants, but the majority Uve on the ground, and run with great quickness : their larv;fi are probably 

 ]^iarasites. They compose the genus, — 



NoToxus, GeofTr. 



Soraptia, Latr., has the thorax nearly semicircular, and the antenna; inserted in a notch of the eyes, filifoiTD. 

 They haveagreat analogy with Mordella, Cistela, &c., in their form. (S.ftisca, a minute British species.) 



l^tcropes, Stev. (BlasianuSf lUig.), has the antennEe terminated by three long joints. 



Nutojcus proper, has the antennas gradually thickened, the joints conical, and the thorax of a reversed ovoid form, 

 narrowed, and truncated behind, or divided into two globose knots. Some species [to which English Entomologists 

 restrict tlie name iYy/(?a'«i'], have the thorax produced into a horn over the head. iV. »?o«oefro^, Linn, [a small 

 Jiritish species found in sand hanks]. Those with the thorax unarmed [form the restricted genus Anihicus of En- 

 g-lish authors. A.fnscns, and many other minute species], some of which are apterous. 



The two following tribes, which terminate the Hcteromera, have several characters in common: 

 mandibles terminated by a simple point ; palpi filiform, or but slightly thickened at the tips ; abdomen 

 soft ; elytra ilexible ; possessing vesicaton,^ powers ; ungues generally bifid. In the perfect state, many of 

 them are herbivorous ; bnt many amongst thera are parasites whilst larvae. 



The fifth tribe, Iloriales, differs from the succeeding by having the ungues denticulated, and furnished 

 with a seta ; and the antennre are filiform, not longer than the tliorax ; the labruin tmall ; mandibles 

 strong and exposed ; palpi filiform ; thorax square, and the two hind legs very robust, at leait in one sex. 

 The transformations oi Horia maculata are described in the Trans. Linn. Soc. of London, [by the late 

 Lansdown Guilding], The larva destroys that of a large Carpenter Bee {Xt/Iocopa teredo, which 

 makes its nest in the trunks of trees in St. Vincents) : this is eltected, as the author supposes, by the 

 larva of the beetle devouring the provisions laid up in store for the larva of the Xylocopa, which is of 

 course starved to death. This tribe is composed of the genus — 



Horia, Fahr., — 

 Speciesof which inhabit the intertropical parts of South America, and East India. 

 CiA-/>iics, l^atr., has the head narrower than the thorax, and the posterior femora greatly thickened. 



The sixth and last tribe, or the Vesicatory Beetles (Cantharidia), is (hstinguished from the preceding 



l)y the tarsal ungues, which are very deeply divided, so as to appear double; the head is generally 



large, broad, and rounded behind ; the thorax is generally naiTowed behind, approaching the shape of 



a truncated heart; in others it is nearly orbicxUar ; the elytra are often slightly inclined at the sides ; 



they counterfeit death when seized, and many at such times emit a yellowish liquid from the joints of 



the feet, which is caustic, and of a penetrating odour, the organs for the secretion of which have not 



been observed. Several species {Meloe, Mylahris, Canlharis,) are employed externally as vesicants, and 



internally as a powerful stimulant ; the latter is however very dangerous in its apphcation. 



This tribe is formed of the genus — 



Meloe, Linn.,— 



■\^^lich has been divided into various others. The anatomical researches of Messrs. Leon Dufour and Bretonneau 

 upon theepipastic powers of these insects, enable us to arrange these generic groups in a natural order, only slightly 

 differing from that already adopted. The latter has discuvered that Sitaris does not possess this property ; it also 

 resembles Zonitis in its general structure, and the latter are contiguous to Cantharis. These insects therefore 



