184 
THE ORDER OF COLEOPTERA. 
joints evidently places them at the extreme end of the order, whilst their 
predaceous habits ally them to the pentamerous carnivora which occupy 
the first rank in the perfection of their organization. 
The name Ooccinella is derived from the Coccus which produces the 
cochineal dye, and was suggested by the prevalence of bright red in the 
coloration of these insects. 
A. Antennae nearly a9 long as the head and thorax ; elytra almost always red dotted with blaolc ; 
length more than a sixth of an inch. 
B. Body somewhat oblong ; anterior margin of the thorax nearly or quite straight Hippooamia. 
B B. Body hemispherical ; anterior margin of the thorax more or less concave Coccineixa. 
A A. Antennas usually very short ; el 3'tra never red ; length almost always less than a sixth of an 
inch. 
C. Thorax deeply hollowed in front so as to embrace the head ; color black, usually clotted or 
varied with red or white. 
D. Surface glabrous; black, dotted with red, or whitish. 
E. Margin of elytra wide and entire; size various Chilocorus. 
EE. Margin of elytra narrow and pitted, for the reception of the tips of the thighs; size 
email Hyperaspis. 
D D. Surface pubescent; black, sometimes varied or tipt with red Scymnijs. 
C C. Anterior margin of thorax nearly straight. 
F. Margin of elytra entire ; prosternum not advanced ; color white with black dots : 
P3YLL0B0RA. 
F F. Margin of elytra pitted ; prosternnm advanced so as to conceal the mouth ; color black 
without spots ; size minute (Eneis. 
Hippodamia, Chev., lias for its type the II. maculata, of DeGeer, the 
most common of all our Coccinellidai ; nearly a quarter of an inch in 
length ; scarlet-red with six large black dots on each elytron, two of 
which join those on the other elytron at the suture. About fifteen other 
[Fig. 94 . ] species have been indicated, most of which exhibit a 
t/l tendency to follow this type of coloration. Upwards 
fy of twenty N. A. species of Coccinella, Linn., have been 
10 described and distributed in a number of sub-genera, 
J[ founded for the most part upon obscure or unimpor- 
hippodamiaconvkkuen8: taut characters. Chilocorus , Leach, contains the com- 
tic— after P K!iej“ n c ° mon G. bivulnerus, Muls., two-tenths of an inch long, 
black, with a red dot on the middle of each wing-cover, so useful in de- 
stroying the bark-lice of the apple tree, and of the pine leaf. The C. 
( Exochomus , Redt.) tripustulutus, DeG., is similar but larger, with a red 
spot on each shoulder, and a spot on the suture behind the middle. 
Hyperaspis, Redt., meaniug literally covered by a shield, contains many 
species readily distinguished by their small size and their black color, 
dotted with red, or whitish. Brachyacantha, Muls., differs from Hype- 
raspis only in the presence of a minute spine on the outer margin of the 
anterior tibiae.* 
' The separation of Megilla and Ceratomegilla from Hippodamia ; of My via nnd Oycloneda from Go*- 
einella ; of Exochomus from Ohilochorus ; and of Brachyacantha from Hyperaspis , under distinct gene- 
ric names, are examples of the modern tendency to the excessive multiplication of genera, often found- 
ed upon the most trivial characters. 
