OF MANDIBULATA. 427 



les ailes riauroient pu, a raison de leur ampleur extraor- 

 dinaire, de leur grande termite, de V obstacle que lews pli- 

 catures opposent continuellement a leur extension, vaincre 

 la resistance de Fair. Elles sont annextes an mtsothorax 

 ou au second segment da tronc, et correspondent ainsi aux 

 ailes supirieures des mitres insect es." 



Thus I consider it to be established that we are to pass 

 from the Coleoptera to the Hymenoptera by means of the 

 Strepsiptera* . As yet, however, I am ignorant of the 

 Coleopterous insects which we ought to quit directly 

 for them. Judging from their fades, I know no Coleo- 

 ptera which approach them closer than the genus Atrac- 

 tocerus. Were I from theory to describe the Cole- 

 opterous insect which ought to come nearest to the Hy- 

 menoptera, it would be nearly as follows : Larva apod, 

 Imago with the thorax small, and the remaining segments 

 of the trunk forming a mass not liable to be confounded 

 with the abdomen. The wings ought not to be folded 

 transversely, and the elytra should perhaps be very mi- 

 nute, since we know no instance among Coleopterous in- 

 sects where they become at their full size membranaceous. 

 It is possible, nevertheless, that the transition frcm a Co- 

 leopterous to a Hymenopterous form is effected on another 

 principle, namely, the affinity which some Hymenoptera, 

 in their perfect state, may be found to bear to imperfect 

 Coleoptera' Thus, in the Australasian genus Myrme- 

 codes we observe many of the distinctive characters of 

 Hymenoptera to disappear. Until the truth be ascer- 

 tained by analysis, it will perhaps be most prudent to 



* If I express myself with more confidence on this head than in the pre- 

 ceding chapter, it is because the receipt of M. Latreille's Memoxre has 

 confirmed me in the opinion whieh I there advanced with some hesitation. 



