THE COLEOPTERA OF GUERNSEY. 



BY MR. W. A. LUFF. 



Coleoptera or Beetles form one of the most important orders 

 of the class Insecta. 



In the perfect state they are easily separated from the 

 other orders by their horny or leathery elytra, or wing-cases, 

 which usually cover two ample membranaceous wings ; these 

 latter are, however, obsolete in some species. 



The elytra meet in a straight line down the centre, never 

 overlapping as in the Hemiptera. 



They possess also cutting forcep-like jaws and other 

 organs for the mastication of their food, whilst the Hemiptera 

 are provided with a suctorial apparatus. 



The technical name Coleoptera is very appropriate, being 

 formed of two Greek words, Cqleos, a sheath, and pteron, a 

 wing. 



They vary greatly in size, from the gigantic Hercules 

 Beetle of the Tropics, measuring several inches in length, to 

 some species of the genera Trichopteryx and Atomaria, which 

 do not exceed one-eighth part of a line in length. When it is 

 remembered that a line is the twelfth part of an inch, the 

 complicated structure of these minute atoms, almost invisible 

 to the naked eye, must excite our wonder and admiration, as 

 they are endowed with the same number of parts as the larger 

 insects, and their nervous and respiratory systems are of 

 greater complexity than that of many of the larger animals. 



Several species of Beetles are well known to everyone, 

 such as the " shard-borne beetle," immortalised by Shakes- 

 peare, which buzzes past at dusk ; the little scarlet lady-bird 

 with its black spots, and which every child knows and loves ; 

 the death watch beetle, which riddles holes in our furniture, 

 and, when the old wooden bedsteads were in vogue, almost 

 frightened our grandmothers to death by the ticking noise it 

 made whilst boring into the posts. 



The cockchafer is also a well-known beetle. They were 

 formerly so abundant in Guernsey that the market-women 

 used to retail them by measure to the urchins of the period 

 for the purpose of spinning them. This they did by driving 

 a pin through them, when they spun around, making a 



