530 
INSECTA. 
I confined to the eastern countries of Asia, and particularly to America ; Madame Merian says that the larva of 
I the species she figured feeds upon the roods of the batatas : the perfect insect is not rare in sugar grounds. 
[Eschscholtz, Sadovski, and Percheron, have recently published monographs of the genus Passalus. Mr. Hope 
has described various new species of Lucanidse in the TranSo Zool. Society, vol. i., ColeopterisVs Manual, &c. I 
have also described some new genera and species in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles, vol. i., and in the Entomol. 
Magazine, No. 23.] 
The second general section of the Coleoptera, named Heteromera, has five joints in the 
four anterior tarsi, and one joint less in the two hind tarsi. These insects entirely subsist on 
vegetable substances, and are divided by us into four great families, the two first of which, in 
respect to certain portions of their internal organization, have some analogy with the first of 
the pentamerous Beetles. Some of the Heteromera have the elytra generally hard, the tarsal 
claws almost always simple, the head ovoid or oval, capable of being posteriorly received into 
the thoracic cavity, or sometimes narrowed behind, but never forming a sudden neck at its 
base: many of them avoid the light. This division comprises . the three following families, 
^Melasoma, Taxicornes, and Stenelytra}. 
THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE COLEOPTERA HETEROMERA,— 
The Mela.soma, — 
Is composed of insects of a black or ashy colour, and unvaried, whence the name of the family ; they 
are for the most part apterous, with the elytra often soldered together ; the antennae entirely or partly 
moniliform, nearly of equal thickness throughout, or slightly thickened at the tip, inserted beneath ® 
the produced margins of the head, and having the third joint generally elongate ; the mandibles bifid 
or notched at the tip ; and having also a horny tooth at the inner edge of the maxillae ; all the joints of 
the tarsi are entire, and the eyes oblong and but slightly elevated, which, according to Marcel de Serres, 
indicates their nocturnal habits. They live for the most part in the ground, beneath stones, or in the 
sand ; often also in low and dark parts of buildings, such as cellars, stables, &c, 
The adipose tissue of these Heteromera is so much more abundant than in the following, that even 
when stuck upon a pin they are able to live nearly six months without food, as I ascertained in some 
specimens of Akis. 
We divide this family, which corresponds with the genns Tenehrio of Linnaeus, from the absence or 
presence of wings. Amongst those which are destitute of these organs, a first tribe, Pimeliarice, is 
composed of those which have the palpi subfiliform, and not terminated by a distinctly hatchet-shaped 
joint. This tribe is named from the very numerous genus,— 
PiMELiA, Fabr. 
[None of the species are found in this country.] 
Pimelia proper, consists of species peculiar to the shores of the Mediterranean, Western and Southern Asia 
(except India), and Africa, which have the body more or less oval, with the thorax narrower behind than the 
elytra ; the front margin of the head straight, without a tooth in the middle, or a deep notch for the reception of 
the antennae ; the two terminal joints of the antennae distinct, and the mentum more or less heart-shaped. M. 
Fischer has divided the species into three genera, but the characters do not appear to be sufficiently marked. A 
very remarkable species, — 
P. coronata, is peculiar to Upper Egypt, where it is found in the tombs ; it is about an inch and a half long, 
black, with a row of short spines bent backwards along the edges of the elytra. 
Trachyderma, Latr., consists of Pimeliae with a narrower abdomen. 
Cryptochile, Latr., differs in their shorter form, with the mentum concealed by the prosternum. They are pe- 
j culiar to the southern extremity of Africa. 
I The three following subgenera differ from Pimelia in having the body short, gibbous above, with the thorax 
i short, and as broad behind as the elytra. 
i Erodius, Latr., has the last two joints of the antennae united into a small club, the body generally swollen, and 
j the fore tibiae with a spur in the middle. 
i Zophosis, Latr., has the antennae nearly filiform, or slightly thickening to the tip, with the tenth joint distinct 
I from the preceding, and the third scarcely larger than the second. 
i Nyctelia, Latr., differs from the last in the much greater length of the third joint of the antennae. The species 
I are from South America, whilst those of Erodius and Zophosis are found in the Old World. 
I Hegeter, Latr. (having the thorax trapeziform), and 
Tentyria, Latr. (with the head rather broader than the thorax, and antennae longer than in Akis), are separated 
