Ti A. M EL L ICORH I A . 



201 



Sub-Order III. LAMELLICORNIA. 



The Lamellicorsia are chiefly known by the highly differ- 

 entiated club of the antennae, from which they take their name, 

 this being entirely different from what is found in any other 

 group. The joints are lamellate and unilaterally extended at ( he 

 apex ; they are articulated together, and the apposed faces of the 

 lamellae or leaves, which are freely exposed to the air, when 

 the beetles are in motion, are provided with minute sensory pits 

 or hairs or both. Certain senses, therefore, are highly developed 

 in the Lamellicornia : whether these are smell and hearing, or 

 something of which we know nothing, is quite uncertain (see 

 p. 27). In the Lucanidjs the lamellae are immovable and the 

 club is more or less pectinate ; in the Meloloxthjx e they can be 

 applied together in close contact, or opened like the leaves of 

 a book, while in some Coprix^e they are received into the first 

 joint, which is hollow. The other most notable characters of the 

 group are the enormous development of the mandibles in the male 

 Llcaxid.e and the horns and excrescences in the Dynastijsle, 

 and, to a lesser extent, in one or two other sections, and the 

 structure and characteristics of the larvae. The concentration of 

 the ganglia or nerve-centres is also remarkable in the group, 

 although it is by no means uniform. The whole of these char- 

 acters, taken together, in conjunction with the habits of various 

 species, both in the larval and the perfect state, appear to be 

 quite sufficient to mark off the Lamellicorista as a separate series, 

 and they are here regarded as forming a distinct complex, having 

 an equivalent value with the Adephaga and the Polycerata, or 

 Polymorpita of Sharp, who adopts the same arrangement. 



Ganglbauer includes the Lamellicornia under the general 

 term of " Scarab.eid.e " as a " Familienreihe " of his sub-order 

 Polyphaga, and he only recognizes two sub-orders altogether. 



Kolbe assigns all the families of the Lamellicorxia to his 

 division Heterophaga, but he places the PassalfdyE in a different 

 group from the rest, near Trogositid^e, and he also adds the 

 Syxteliid.e. 



Lameere, who adopts three series — Carabiformia, Staphylfxi- 

 formia, and Cantbaridiformia — places the Lamellioornia 

 under the last of these, which includes all the remainder of 

 Ganglbauers Polyphaga. 



Lacorclaire forms the group into two distinct families — " Pecti- 

 nicornes," containing the Lucanid.e and Passalid.f, and 

 ** Lamellicornes," containing the remainder of the group. 



We have above mentioned the chief characteristics of the 

 group ; the following, however, may be recapitulated :— (xular 

 suture distinct ; side sutures of the thorax distinct ; testes 

 roundish and stalked ; four Malpighian tubes present ; body 

 usually more or less convex and often strongly rounded; legs, in 

 some cases, very peculiar, the front pair being, for the most part, 



