320 STATES OF INSECTS. 



oro-ans in the latter are what is denominated broken, the 

 main body of the antenna forming an angle with the first 

 joints : but in the former this does not take place. 



The antennae of the sexes do not always agree in the 

 number of joints. In the bees, and many other Hymeno- 

 ptera, the male has one more joint than the female; as is 

 the case also in (Edemera notata {Cantharis acuta Marsh.). 

 In Pteronus Laricis, a kind of saw-fly, the latter has only 

 sixteen joints in its antennas, while the former has twenty- 

 four a . In Rhipicera marginata, a beetle, the beautiful 

 antennae of the male consist of thirty-two joints, while 

 the female has no more than eleven ! In Chelojius Jur. 

 the male, on the contrary, has the smallest number of 

 joints, namely sixteen ; while the female has twenty- 

 five b . 



In nothing do the sexes differ more materially than in 

 the ramification of these organs, and their plumage. By 

 attending to this, you may often detect the sexes in an 

 instant ; since the antennae of the males in numerous in- 

 stances are much more complex than those of the females. 

 For what end the Creator has so distinguished them is not 

 quite clear ; but most probably this complex structure is 

 for the purpose of receiving from the atmosphere informa- 

 tion of the station of the female. A tendency to branching 

 will be found in the antennas of some males, in tribes where 

 these organs are usually perfectly simple in both sexes. 

 Thus, in the male of Chelostoma maxillosa, — mistaken for 

 another species by Linne, which he names Apisjlorisom- 

 nis t — the intermediate joints on their inner side project 

 into an angle c ; and those of the same sex of the common 



■ l Jurine Hymenopt. 61. t. xi.f. 8. b Ibid. 289. 



e Mon. Ap. Aug/, i. t. ix. Apis **. c. 2. y.f. 9. 



