CONCLUDING REMARKS. 91 



degree assimilated, though subject to various shades of 

 difference that at length lead them into a neighbouring 

 family, this idea Avill perhaps be found more consonant to 

 what is observed in nature than any other which can be 

 proposed. It was with this view of the subject that I endea- 

 voured to discover the types of formation, or to pitch upon 

 such insects as seemed to possess a peculiar construction, to 

 which all the others more or less approached. The attempt 

 seemed so far useful, as it might lead a person without 

 possessing a collection for study, to acquire a very per- 

 fect idea of all the various forms of Petalocera which were 

 likely to occur to his notice. And it was accordingly 

 imagined that they might be represented by some of the 

 most familiar insects as follows : 



Geotrupes stercorarius, Lat. Rutela lineola, Lat. 

 Scarabseus sacer, L. Cetonia aurata, F. 



Aphodius Fossor, F. Amphicoma hirta, Lat . 



Trox sabulosus, F. Melolontha brunnea, F. 



Oryctes nasicornis, Illig. Anoplognathus viridi- 



Eeneus, Leach. 



There are few collections so poor as not to boast the 

 possession. of these ten insects, an intimate acquaintance 

 with which is all, I venture to affirm, that is requisite for 

 a general knowledge of the structure of the Petalocera 3 -. At 

 the same time as only five of them are British, it may be 

 well to observe how necessary for the entomologist is the 

 study of exotic insects. 



It only remains, by way of conclusion, to say a few words 

 on the principal objections that may be brought against 

 the preceding observations. 1st, That though characters 



a It is to be observed that no account is made here of osculant genera. 



