86 



THE lOUNG 



NATUEALIST. 



Anoplura (Lice.) 



Those which have associated the lice 

 with any other insects have placed them 

 with Hemiptera, which they resemble in not 

 having a perfect metamorphosis. The true 

 lice are divided inlo two divisions called 

 Mallophaga, which feed on the hair and 

 feathers of animals, and Hamatopina, which 

 suck the blood. 



The family Mallophaga, which live on 

 feathers or hair, have mandibles for biting. 

 This family is divided into two sections, the 

 one called Liotheida, which infest birds of 

 different kinds, and Trichodectida which in- 

 fest mammals. Scarcely any species of 

 bird or mammal is entirely free from the 

 attack of parasites of this order, and in 

 some cases they absolutely swarm upon 

 individuals, a fact which must have been 

 observed by all bird stuffers, pigeon and 

 dog keepers. Almost every species has 

 some parasite peculiar to itself, or peculiar 

 to the genus to which it belongs. 



The family H>ematopina subsist by suck- 

 ing the blood of their host, and for this 

 purpose are provided with a mouth tube, 

 in which respect they differ from the last 

 family. To this section belongs the lice, 

 both of the body and head of the human 

 species, that which infests the white man is 

 white, that which infests the negro is black. 

 The claws are furnished with a kind of 

 nipping jaw, by which it firmly holds on 

 the hair of the animal it infests, and in this 

 way it is very difficult to clear a dog or 

 other animal that has once become infested 

 with them. The best plan seems to be rub- 

 bing the hair with a "precipitate," sold by 

 most chemists, and which should be a pre- 

 paration of Bi-carbonate of Mercury in the 

 form of an ointment. 



We would call the attention of bird 

 stuffers to this subject. They frequently 

 find parasites on the specimens they pre- 

 pare. If they will take the trouble to put 

 a few specimens into a quill, plug up the 



ends with cotton and transmit them to us. 

 We may, when sufficient material is accu- 

 mulated, go further into the subject, and 

 will duly acknowledge all such help in the 

 proper place. 



ON THE CLASSIFICATION 

 OF COLEOPTERA. 



By John W. Ellis, L.R.C.P., &c. 



I have penned the following remarks on 

 the classification of Beetles with the hope 

 that they may be of use to young coleopter- 

 ists in helping them, if not to name their 

 additions, at any rate, to enable them to 

 arrange them in some sort of order prepara- 

 tory to their naming them. I fully endorse 

 the editor's remarks as to the desirability of 

 young entomologists not troubling their 

 friends with their unnamed specimens till 

 they have tried their best to name them 

 themselves, as from my own experience I 

 can assure them that by naming a single 

 species they will learn more about that 

 species and its relations than by a year's 

 collection and arrangement of ready-set and 

 ready-named specimens. 



The order Coleoptera, or Beetles, is dis- 

 tinguished from all others by the insects 

 contained in it undergoing a complete 

 metamorphosis, by the perfect insect being 

 possessed of a mouth furnished with two 

 pairs of jaws, and having the anterior wings 

 forming a pair of horny sheaths for the 

 posterior pair, which alone are used in 

 flight. For a description of the various 

 anatomical details I must refer beginners to 

 one of the books on beetles, such as " Cox," 

 "Rye," or the little one by the Rev. T. G. 

 Wood, as a description of these parts — 

 especially of the mouth — is almost unintelli- 

 gible without the aid of good diagrams. 



Beetles are differently classified by various 

 writers, but I think the old plan of dividing 

 them into thirteen sub-ordevs is by far the 

 simplest for the beginner, especially as it 



