252 
COLEOPTEKA. 
Mepoloni htdaI 
Antennce with a knob of closely folded leaflets. Elytra not covering 
the pygidium. One or three spiracles visible beyond the elytra. 
This very large family includes the familiar cockchafers, moderate¬ 
ly large thickset beetles, the head small, the prothorax large and round¬ 
ed, the abdomen, with the elytra, hard, 
round and robust. The forelegs are com¬ 
monly broadened and fitted for digging 
in the soil. The posterior legs are strong, 
often well spined. Wings are present and 
the beetles fly well. The tracheae contain 
dilations which are inflated before flight, 
thus increasing the volume and reducing the 
specific gravity of the insect as a whole. 
Stridulation of one hard part of the body 
against another is frequent, a variety of 
sounds being produced. Sexual distinctions are well marked in some 
by prominent secondary characters. The larvae are fleshy soft grubs, 
the body wrinkled and curved in an arc ; the head is large, the apical 
abdominal segment very much developed. Legs are present but are 
little used. The four sub-families are distinct; their characters are 
enumerated above (page 242). 
Melolonthim:. — Cockchafers. Moderate-sized beetles, with robust 
bodies, the elytra covering all but one spiracle, the legs only slightly 
broadened and without horns or spines on head and prothorax. These 
are mostly dull-coloured insects, brown predominating in the coloura¬ 
tion, and they vary in length from a quarter of an inch upwards. The 
antennae are short, with the knob composed of one more joint in the 
male than in the female, the leaflets also longer in the males; the 
prothorax is small, the elytra generally smooth and fitting tightly to 
the abdomen. The legs are moderately long, fitted for walking and to 
a less degree for digging. 
The life-history of no Indian species is recorded in any detail. Gene¬ 
rally speaking, the larvae live in the soil, feeding upon the roots of plants. 
They are fleshy dingy-white in colour, the head brown, the body curved 
in an arch and the apical segment large and smooth. There are many 
