12 



ON THE CETONIID^ OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



7. I term these genera, because they are the first class of groupes into which the 

 CetoniidcB resolve themselves. They form a series returning into itself. Some persons may call 

 them sub-famihes, or give them any other name. This is quite a matter of taste ; but I choose 

 to call them genera, in order that I may more easily hereafter shew the relation borne to 

 each of them by the groupes of modern entomologists. Of these genera then, Trichinus 

 appears to have been discovered by Fabricius, and to answer tolerably well to his genus 

 Trichius. I have therefore assigned the groupe Trichinus to him, because Trichius denotes, 

 with modern authors, a groupe of more hmited extent. Cryptodinus and Macrominus are 

 groupes now, I believe, for the first time, clearly pointed out, although the former nearly 

 corresponds with what Gory calls his genus Cremastocheilus. I have assigned the groupe 

 Gymnetinus to Kirby, because it answers very nearly in extent to the sub-family called by him 

 GymnetidcB, and by Gory Gymnetides. Cetoninus is a groupe which I am not aware has ever 

 until now been properly distinguished. 



8. I am acquainted with larvee of the genera Triddnus, Gymnetinus, and Cetoninus ; but I 

 beheve no larva of Cryptodinus or Macrominus is as yet known. It is probable, however, 

 that the larvae of these last, when discovered, will be found to have the mandibles formed like 

 those of the larvae of Osmoderma eremita, that is, unidentate at the extremity ; for they are 

 insects which have great affinity to each other in the manners of their perfect state. 



9. I have attempted in the above table to distinguish the normal groupe by its larva ; but it 

 may also be not badly distinguished by the imago, which has the terminal process of the 

 maxilla almost always without teeth, and, at the same time, the epimeron almost always appa- 

 rent between the angles of the thorax and elytra. By the first of these characters the normal 

 groupe may be separated very nearly from the genus Macrominus, and by the latter very 

 nearly from the genus Trichinus. There are exceptions to the rule, such as Philistina and a 

 section of Goliathus, which have maxillas with corneous teeth, and Inca, which has the 

 epimeron not apparent between the thorax and elytra ; but these are osculant groupes, the 

 former leading to Macrominus, and the latter to Trichinus. 



10. Of the five British species that belong to the family of CetoniidcR, three are to be 

 assigned to the genus Trichinus, and two to Cetoninus. But no one who confines his atten- 

 tion to the above five species can form any notion of the beauty and variety of form that 

 prevails throughout the family. 



11. I do not venture to alter the terminations of the sub-genera, in order that they may 

 agree with that of the genus to which they belong ; nor can I make the terminations of the 

 genus apply to that of all the sub-genera which it contains. The consequence of this is, that 

 we have often strange concords, such as Trichinus Platygenia Zairica ; but in such cases I 

 have always made the trivial name agree with the sub-genus rather than with the genus. To 

 this last I have given the termination, which corresponds with that of the majority of the 

 sub-genera. 



Genus I. TRICHINUS, Fab. 



12. This genus is easily known from Cryptodinus, M'L. by its flat mentum and maxillse 

 provided with a brush of hairs ; while from the genus Cetoninus, it is separated by its never 

 having the epimeron prominent between the thorax and elytra, as well as by the anterior femora 

 having no spines at their junction with the tibise. I do not place so much confidence in 

 Latreille's character drawn from the mode in which the labial palpi are inserted. 



