no 
THE ORDER OP COLEOrTERA. 
It is sometimes found in houses, but more commonly on the carcases, 
aud especially the bones, of dead animals. The have even been found 
under the wrappings of Egyptian mummies. The N. ( Gorynetes ) rufipes, 
DeGeer, has also become spread over the whole globe. 
Section II. IIETETIOMERA. 
Five joint# in the anterior and middle tarsi , and four joint# in the hind tarsi, the joint s being usually 
slender and bare, or at most, sparsely haired orspinoits. 
The Heteromera constitute the second principal division of Coleopte- 
rous insects, distinguished primarily, as the name implies, by the diverse 
number of joints in their tarsi, or feet. This character is remarkably 
uniform, only two or three exceptional cases having been detected in 
all the known iusects of this section ; and as but few of them are of 
very small size, the number of tarsal joints is usually easily determined. 
It is also seen by the above formula that the tarsal joints iu the iusects 
of this, as of the preceding section, are usually slender and clothed, 
at most, with scattered hairs or bristles, thus strongly contrasting with 
the dilated brush-like and bilobed tarsi of the two succeeding sections. 
This section embraces an extensive series of beetles, though less 
numerous than the first and third sections. Although most of them 
are vegetable feeders, at least in the imago state, comparatively few 
subsist upon growing plants, and but few, even of these, have been 
known to increase to such an extent as to become injurious to cultivated 
crops. The principal exceptions to this statement are the common meal- 
worms belonging to the genus Tenebrio, and the Lyttae or Cautharides, 
which are sometimes seriously destructive to the foliage of vegetables, 
especially that of the potato. 
The Ileteromera comprise two very diverse groups of beetles, which 
have, indeed, scarcely any characters in common except the number, of 
tarsal joints. 
The first division, of which the well known Cautharides may be taken 
as the leading typo, is distinguished by having the head wider than the 
anterior part of the thorax aud attached to it by a short neck ; by the 
elytra being comparatively thin and llexible ; by their frequently diver- 
sified colors; their active diurnal habits ; and the parasitic character of 
many of their larvie. 
The other section, which may be represented by the common black 
Tenebrio or meal-beetle, is distinguished from the foregoing by having 
the head partially immersed in the thorax; their hard and inflexible 
elytra ; their obscure aud mostly black or brown colors ; and by their 
being vegetable feeders in both the perfect and the larva states. 
The first of these divisions contains a considerable number of suffi- 
ciently distinct and well marked families ; but many of the minor groups 
