INSECTA. 
522 
shutting in the same manner ; sometimes forming a concentric, contorted club, the first or the basal | 
joint of the mass being in such case semi-infundibuliform, and receiving the others ; sometimes t 
arranged perpendicularly to the axis, and forming a kind of comb. The body is generally ovoid or ■ 
oval, and thick, the outer edge of the anterior tibiae is toothed, and the joints of the tarsi, except in i 
some males, are entire, and vs^ithout any brush or cushion beneath ; the anterior extremity of the head 
is advanced and dilated, generally in the form of a shield; the mentum is generally large, and covers < 
the tonguelet, or is incorporated with it, and bears the palpi ; the mandibles of many are membranous, ^ 
a peculiarity not found in any other coleopterous insect. The males often difier from the females | 
either in the horns or tubercular elevations of the thorax or head, or in the size of their mandibles. ] 
This family is of very great extent, and one of the most beautiful of the order, in respect to the \ 
size of the body, the variety in the form of the head and thorax in the diiferent sexes, and often also j 
in those species which in the perfect state live upon vegetable substances, in respect to the brilliancy \ 
of the metallic colours with which they are ornamented. But the majority of the other species, which P j 
subsist on decomposing vegetable matter, as manure, tan, or excrementitious matter, are generally of 
an uniform brown or black colour ; some of the coprophagous species, nevertheless, are not inferior 
in this respect to the preceding. All have wings, and they crawl but slowly. The larva have the " 
body long, nearly semicylindrical, soft, often transversely wrinkled, whitish-coloured, 12-jointed, with 
the head scaly, armed with strong jaws and six scaly feet. Each side of the body has nine spiracles ; 
the posterior extremity is thickened, rounded, and generally curved beneath, so that these larva q 
having the back convex or arched, are not able to extend themselves in a straight line, and crawl but | 
badly on a smooth surface, and tumble sideways or back downwards at every step. A general idea of 
their form may be obtained from that of the grub so common in gardens and pastures, which produces ( 
the common Cockchaffer. Some species do not change to pupae until they have passed three or four j 
years as larvae ; they form for themselves in their retreats, with the earth or the debris of the mate- 1 
rials they have gnawed, a cocoon of an ovoid form, or in the shape of an elongated ball, of which the i 
particles are fastened together with a glutinous secretion. Their food consists of dung, manure, tan, 
the roots of vegetables, including some which are useful to Man, whence these insects occasionally i 
cause much loss to the cultivator. The nervous system, considered in the larva and imago states, ; 
exhibits remarkable differences. 
We divide this family into two tribes, the anatomy of which, according to Dufour, is so different as P j 
to raise them to the rank of two distinct families, — [Scarabceides and Lucanides]. a 
The first, that of the | , 
ScARAB^IDES, 
Possesses antennae terminated in the majority by a club composed of leaflets capable of being shut up, 
and in the others consisting of box-like joints, either in the form of a cone reversed, or nearly globu- 
lar ; the mandibles are alike, or nearly alike, in the sexes, but the head and thorax of the males often - 
exhibit prominences of peculiar form ; sometimes also their antennae are more developed. This tribe 
corresponds with the genus 
ScAKAB^us, Linnaeus. 
We divide this genus into numerous small sections, founded upon the consideration of the mastica- 
tory organs, antennae, and habits, the distinction of which sections has been confirmed by the anato- ' 
mical researches of M. Dufour. 
1. The Coprophagi, or the Scarabaeides of our first section, have the antennae generally composed of , 
eight or nine joints, the last three of which form the knob ; the labrum and mandibles are membranous 
and hidden. The terminal lobe of the maxillae is also of this consistence, broad, and curved on the * 
upper edge ; the last joint of the maxillary palpi is always largest, and the last joint of the labial is 
slenderer than the preceding, or very small, behind each of which last palpi is a membranous produc-' 
tion, or tonguelet. The sternum offers no particular prominence, and the claws of the tarsi are simple ; 
the fore tarsi are often wanting, either naturally or from being worn away. 
Some of the Coprophagi have the two middle legs much wider apart at the base than the others ; 
the labial palpi very hairy, with the last joint minute ; the seutellum wanting, or very small. 
Ateuchus, Weber {Scarabceus of the Latins and Mac Leay, Heliocantliarus of the Greeks), consists of species j 
peculiar to the old world, with the body rounded, generally depressed above, alike in both sexes ; antennae 9-jointed, - 
