THE CE TONIIDyE. 
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numbers. At the approach of winter they grub downwards into 
the earth, even to the distance of one or two feet, and return 
again in the spring. Probably they live three years in this manner, 
and then they construct oval-shaped cocoons out of chips of wood 
and pieces of rubbish, all of which are glued together by the 
secretion of the salivary glands. They undergo their metamor- 
phoses in the cocoon, and they proceed rather rapidly, for the 
beetle forces itself out in the early summer. Dr. Baird says that a 
very pretty species is found in the Philippine Islands, which is of 
a fine brilliant metallic green colour. The ladies of Manilla keep 
them as pets in small bamboo cages. The beetles of this family 
of the Cetoniidce are widely dispersed, but most of them are found 
in tropical climates, and they vary much in size and in ornamenta- 
tion in every country. 
There are some beetles of a Brazilian species which rest in the 
morning time in the plantations of maize, where they are found 
sitting under the leaves ; they fly during the day round the lofty 
trees, upon the leaves of which they feed. They are styled the 
princes of the beetle tribe, but are inferior in size to the Goliaths 
( 1 Goliat Jins), which are peculiar to tropical Africa. The same 
author informs us that the great Goliathus cacicus is roasted and 
eaten by the natives. Several species used to fetch very high 
prices amongst collectors, and as much as ^50 have been given 
for a single specimen. The larva of this species makes a cocoon 
of mud, and undergoes its metamorphoses in it. 
The Trichiitce , which differ from the Cetoniidce in not having 
a particular portion of the mesothorax prominent, have a species 
which is small and black, and which is often seen running about 
the ground ( Valgus hemipterus). It has five spines on its legs, 
and the female has a long and straight ovipositor, with which it 
introduces its eggs into the cracks and holes of decaying wood. 
The Melolonthidce have a very short lower lip and strong man- 
dibles, which enable them to browse leaves, and the hooks of the 
legs are constructed in different manners, according to their methods 
of life. The Cockchafers, or May Bugs, are representative forms of 
this family. These beetles appear in enormous numbers in some 
years, and are just as scarce in others ; and this depends upon 
the long duration of their development. If the spring is warm they 
