40 
COLEOPTKRA. 
concealing the upper lip. The thorax is either rounded, some- 
what square, or triangular. The wing-cases do not cover 
the end of the body. The fore legs # are deeply notched on 
the outer edge ; and the claws are equal and entire. These 
hectics are generally of an oblong oval form, somewhat flat- 
tened above, and often brilliantly colored and highly polished, 
sometimes also covered with hairs. Most of the bright- 
colored kinds are day-fliers ; those of dark and plain tints 
arc generally nocturnal beetles. Some of them arc of im- 
mense size, and have been styled the princes of the beetle 
tribes ; such are the Incas of South America, and the Goliah 
beetle ( Hegemon Goliatws ) of Guinea, the latter being more 
than four inches long, two inches broad, and thick and heavy 
in proportion. 
Two American Cetonians must suffice as examples in this 
rig. 17 . group. The first is the Indian Cetonia, Cetonia 
Incla * (Fig. 17), one of our earliest visitors in 
the spring, making its appearance towards the end 
of April or the beginning of May, when it may 
sometimes be seen in considerable numbers around 
the borders of woods, and in dry, open fields, fly- 
ing just above the grass with a loud humming sound, like a 
humble-bee, for which perhaps it might at first sight be mis- 
taken. Like other insects of the same genus, it has a broad 
body, very obtuse behind, with a triangular thorax, and a 
little wedge-shaped piece on each side between the hinder 
angles of the thorax and the shoulders of the wing-covers ; 
the latter, taken together, form an oblong square, but are 
somewhat notched or widely scalloped on the middle of the 
outer edges. The head and thorax of this beetle are dark 
copper-brown, or almost black, and thickly covered with short 
greenish-yellow hairs ; the wing-cases are light yellowish- 
* Scarabccus Indus of Linnteus, Cetonia barbata of Say . 6 
[ 6 Cetonia Inda. The old genus Cetonia has been divided recently into many 
genera, some of which have again been merged together by later investigators; 
our species belong to the one called Euryomia, as enlarged by Lacordaire. — Lec.] 
