COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 
113 
of the anterior tarsi are dilated so as to form a cir- 
cular plate, fringed round the edges with strong 
hairs ; the under side of this plate is more or less 
thickly covered with small circular cups, some of 
which are placed on footstalks, and others are nearly 
sessile ; two of the largest of these cups are situated 
near the base of the plate, the whole apparatus 
forming a powerful sucker. A very beautiful and 
curious appendage, designed probably to serve a si- 
milar end, has been noticed on the under side of the 
tarsi of a dark-brown beetle ( Harpalus ruficornis\ 
found everywhere throughout Britain, under stones 
and among rubbish. 
The third and last primary division of the body 
is the abdomen, an important portion of the animal 
economy. It is generally the largest part of the in- 
sect, and is closely attached to the hinder extremity 
of the thorax. It is unprovided with locomotive 
organs, and is composed of rings or segments, on 
both sides of which are placed rounded openings, 
named stigmata, or breathing holes, through which 
the fluids become aerated. Many Coleoptera have 
a tubular retractile piece at the extremity, termed 
an ovipositor, which forms a funnel for conveying 
the eggs in safety to their appointed nidus ; but no 
insect in this order is possessed of any appendage 
analogous to a sting. The abdomen is generally 
larger in the females than in the opposite sex, and 
differs in the form of the terminal segments, besides 
having one fewer than the males. — We now proceed 
H 
