REESE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Received— BIOLOGY Accessions No.2 %_6&^. Shelf A^. LONDON. HENRY G.BOHN. YORK STREET. COVENT GARDEN. THE NATUEALIST'S LIBEAEY. EDITED BY SIR WILLIAM JARDINE, BART., F.B.S.E., F.L.S, ETC., ETC. VOL. XXXIII. ENTOMOLOGY. BEETLES, BY JAMES DUNCAN, M.W.S., ETC. LONDON : HENRY G. BOHN, YORK ST., COVENT GARDEN BIOLOGY LIBRARY G CONTENTS. PAGE MEMOIR OF RAY . . . , 17 Natural History of Coleopterous Insects . 71 PENTAMERA. Cicindela aurulenta. Plate I. Fig. 1. . 117 Anthia decemguttata. Plate I. Fig. 2. . 121 Procerus Tauricus. Plate I. Fig. 3. . 122 Carabus Hispanus. Plate I. Fig. 4. . . 124 Carabus auratus. Plate II. Fig. 1. . 125 Carabus clathratus. Plate II. Fig. 2. . . 126 Tefflus Megerlei. Plate II. Fig. 3. . . 127 Calosoma sycophanta. Plate III. Fig. 1. . 129 Elaphrus riparius. Plate III. Fig. 2. . 130 Mormolyce phyllodes. Plate III, Fig. 3. . 132 Dytiscidee. Dytiscus ..... 135 Dytiscus dimidiatus. Plate IV. Fig. 1. . 137 Gyrinus natator. Plate IV. Fig. 2. . 140 Cyclous vittatus. Plate IV. Fig. 3. . . 142 Hydrous piceus. Plate IV. Fig. 4. . 144 Brachelytra. Staphylinus erythrurus. Plate V. Fig. 1. . 148 Xantholinus fulgidm. Plate V, Fig. 2. . 149 BolitoUus atricapillus. Plate V. Fig. 3. . 150 Zirophorus exaratus. Plate V. Fig. 4. . 152 CONTENTS. PAOS Serricornes. Buprestis chrysis. Plate VI. Fig. 1. . .155 Buprestis sternicornis. Plate VI. Fig. 2. . 156 Buprestis bicolor. Plate VI. Fig. 3. . . 157 Buprestis amcena. Plate VI. Fig. 4. . 158 Elater noctilucus. Plate VII. Fig. 1. . . 161 Elater porcatus. Plate VII. Fig. 2. . 167 Elater lineatus. Plate VII. Fig. 3. . . 168 Elater suturalis. Plate VII. Fig. 4. . . 1C9 Elater distinctus. Plate VII. Fig. 5. . . 170 Elater melanocephalus. Plate VIII. Fig. 1. 171 Lampyris Italica. Plate VIII. Fig. 2. . 172 Lampyris Latreillii. Plate VIII. Fig. 3. . 175 Lycus festivus. Plate VIII. Fig. 4. . . 176 Malachius marginellus. Plate VIII. Fig. 5. 177 Priocera variegata. Plate VIII. Fig. 6. . 178 Clavicornes. Necrophorus humator. Plate IX. Fig. 1. . 180 Necrodes littoralis. Plate IX. Fig. 2. . . 181 Silpha quadripunctata. Plate IX. Fig. 3. 182 Anthrenus scrophularice. Plate IX. Fig. 4. . 183 Hister reniformis. Plate IX. Fig. 5. . 184 Lamellicornes. Ateuchussacer. Sacred Egyytian Beetle. Plate X. Fig. 1. 188 Onthopliagus Dillwynii. Plate X. Fig. 2. . 200 Phanceus lancifer. Plate X. Fig. 3. . . 202 Phanceus carnifex. Plate X. Fig. 4. . 203 Geotrupes stercorarius. Plate X. Fig. 5. . 204 Scarabceus Hercules. Plate XI. . . 207 Scarabceus Tityus. Plate XII. . .208 Scarabceus Atlas. Plate XIII. . . 209 Scarabceus macropus. Plate XIV. Fig. 1. . 210 Chrysophora chrysochlora. Plate XIV. Fig. 2. 211 Rutela imlchella. Plate XV. Fig. 1. . 212 Macraspis fucata. Plate XV. Fig. 2. . . 213 CONTENTS. PAGE Melolontha Fullo. Plate XV. Figs. 3 and 4 . 214 Goliathus magnus. Plate XVI. . . > 2HJ Cetonia fascicularis. Plate XVII. Fig. 1. * . 218 Cetonia Macleayi. Plate XVIL Fig. 2. . 219 Cetonia discoidea. Plate XVII. Fig. 3. . 220 Cetonia Australasice. Plate XVIL Fig, 4. ib. Gymnetis nervosa. Plate XVIL Fig. 5. . 221 Gymnetis marmorea. Plate XVIL Fig. 6. 222 Chiasognathus Chiloensis. Plate XVIII. Fig. 1. 223 Lucanus cervue, or Stag Beetle. Plate XVI II. Fig. 2 224 HETEROMERA. Horia maculata. Plate XIX. Fig. 1. . 227 Meloe variegatus. Plate XIX. Fig. 2. . ib. Cantharis vesicatoria, or Blister Beetle. Plate XIX. Fig. 3 229 Cantharis Nuttalli. Plate XIX. Fig. 4. . 230 TETRAMERA. Apoderus longicollis. Plate XX. Fig. 1. . 232 Apoderus gemmatus. Plate XX. Fig. 2. . ib. Apoderus ruficollis. Plate XX. Fig. 3. . 233 Rynchites populi. Plate XX. Fig. 4. . . 234 Rynchites pubescens. Plate XX. Fig. 5.- . ib. Rynchites collaris. Plate XX. Fig. 6. . 235 Brentus anchorago. Plate XXL Fig. 1. . ib. Rhina Barbirostris. Plate XXL Fig. 2. . 236 Curculio Cuvierii. Plate XXI. Fig. 3. . 237 Curculio Geo/royii. Plate XXL Fig. 4. . 238 Curculio vittatus. Plate XXI. Fig. 5. . ib. Curculio sphacelatus. Plate XXI. Fig. 6. . 239 Curculio Latreillii. Plate XXII. Fig. 1. ib. Curculio sexdecimpunctatus. Plate XXII. Fig. 2. 240 Curculio myrmosarius. Plate XXII. Fig. 3. . ib. Curculio brunneus. Plate XXII. Fig. 4. . 241 Calandra heros. Plate XXII. Fig. 5. . 242 Longi comes. Priomis cervicornis. Plate XXIII. . 245 CONTENTS. PAGE Prionus corticinus. Plate XXIV. Fig. 1. . 247 Lophonocerus barbicornis. Plate XXIV. Fig. 2. 248 Acrocinus longimanus, or Harlequin Beetle. Plate XXV. Fig. 1. . . . 250 Lamia subocellata. Plate XXV. Fig. 2. . 253 Lamia ornata. Plate XXVI. Fig. 1. . . ib. Lamia formosa. Plate XXVI. Fig. 2. . 254 Lamia tricincta. Plate XXVI. Fig. 4. . ib. Desmocerus cyaneus. Plate XXVI. Fig. 3. 255 SagraBuquetii.. Plate XXVII. . .256 Cassida bicornis. Plate XXVIII. Fig. 1. 257 Cassida scalaris. Plate XXVIII. Fig. 2. . 258 Cassida micans. Plate XXVIII. Fig. 3. . ib. Cassida echinata. Plate XXVIII. Fig. 4. . 259 Cassida perforata. Plate XXVIII. Fig. 5. ib. Cassida luctuosa. Plate XXVIII. Fig. 6. . 260 Cassida sex-pustulata. Plate XXIX. Fig. 1. ib. Alurnus marginatus. Plate XXX. Fig. 1. . ib. Clythra hirta. Plate XXIX. Fig. 2. . 261 Chlamys monstrosa. Plate XXIX. Fig. 3. . 262 Eumolpus cupreus. Plate XXX. Fig. 2. . 263' Chrysomela cerealis. Plate XXX. Fig. 3. . 264 Chrysomela fastuosa. Plate XXX. Fig. 4. 265 Doryphora tessellata. Plate XXIX. Fig. 4. . ib. (Edionychis cincta. Plate XXX. Fig. 5. . 266 Erotylus histrio. Plate XXIX. Fig. 5. . 267 Spheniscus erotyloides. Plate XXIX. Fig. 6. 268 TEIMERA. Coccinella vigintiduo-punctata. Plate XXX. Fig. 6 269 PORTRAIT OF RAY .... 2 Vignette Title-page. Buprestis fulminans and Curculio spleiidens ... 3 In all Thirty-two Plates in this Volume. M E M 0 1 E OF B A Y. MEMOIR OF RAY. THE individual of whose life it is proposed to give some account, occupied a distinguished place among the eminent men of the seventeenth century, and contributed materially by his genius and writings to give an impulse to the age in which he lived. He carried his investigations into many of the most important departments of natural science, and, by means of his accurate observation, faithful descrip- tion, and philosophical talents, placed them on a foundation from which they have been raised to their present state of advancement. These quali- ties, combined with learning of the first order, and an integrity of life seldom equalled, justly entitle him to the grateful remembrance of his countrymen ; and the appellations of " Father of Natural History," " Aristotle of England," and the " Linnaeus of his time/* which some of them have bestowed on him, sufficiently evince the high sense that has been en- tertained of his merits. 18 MEMOIE OF BAY. JOHN RAY was born on the 29th November 1628, at a place named Black Notley, in Essex. Although the name of his family was Ray, he continued all the time he attended the university to write it Wray, a form in which it accordingly appears in the college registers, and in some of his earliest publi- cations. This alteration was soon however aban- doned, and he confesses himself to have adopted it inconsiderately, and contrary to the usage of his fore- fathers. His parents were of humble condition, but they were enabled to provide for the liberal educa- tion of their son. His early studies were pursued at the grammar school of Braintree, which was not far distant from the place of his birth. In his maturer years he used to lament that so much of his time had been spent there unprontably, owing to the , imperfect mode of education pursued — a complaint pretty generally applicable to such institutions at the period of which we speak. We possess no detailed or circumstantial account of Ray's boyhood, nor is it probable that there was much deserving of being recorded in the early part of a life, which was never marked, even at its most active period, by great variety of incident. What- ever may have been the deficiencies of his education at school, they were speedily repaired by his ex- treme assiduity and aptitude for learning. His at- tention seems for a time to have been chiefly de- voted to the acquisition of languages, and other Branches of knowledge bearing immediate relation MEMOIR OF EAY. 19 to the sacred profession of the church, for which he was destined. But a predilection for the study of nature must have been manifested when he was very young, as we find him mentioned, shortly after en- tering the university, in terms of high commenda- tion, not only for his knowledge of Latin and Greek, but also for his skill in Natural History. His removal to the university of Cambridge took place when he was sixteen years of age, for it ap- pears that he was entered at Catherine Hall on 28th June, 1644. He continued there a year and three quarters, under the tuition of Mr Duckfield, when he removed to Trinity College. Here he found the subjects of study greatly more congenial to his taste, as they consisted chiefly of the physical sciences and the more elegant departments of polite learning. He had also the benefit to enjoy the instructions of Dr Duport, an individual of considerable celebrity at that time for his extensive acquaintance with Greek literature. Availing himself to the utmost of these advantages, and extending his enquiries into some departments of learning then very little cultivated, Ray soon acquired a high reputation both for his scholarship and philosophical attainments. At a time when all scientific works, and frequently even the private correspondence of friends, were written in Latin, a facility in the use of that language was not a rare attainment ; but a nicer perception of pe- culiarities of idiom, and a higher tone of classical elegance, are observable in Ray's Latin composi- 20 MEMOIR OF RAY. tions, than in the writings of most of his cotempo* raries. His talents and amiable disposition secured him the esteem and friendship of many of the most eminent men then attending the university, parti- cularly the celebrated Isaac Barrow, Dr Tenison, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, and Dr Arrow- smith, master of Trinity College. When enume- rating the most eminent men to whom he had been tutor, Dr Duport was accustomed to say, that the chief of all his pupils were Mr Ray and Dr Barrow, to whom he esteemed none of the rest comparable. Ray prosecuted the regular order of study then prescribed to candidates for holy orders, and when of some standing, was chosen into several offices 01' the college, having been appointed in succession, Prcelector Primarius, Junior Dean, and College Steward. The latter office he held for two years, and was sworn into it on the last occasion in De- cember 1660. During his residence at the university, Mr Ray likewise distinguished himself as an eloquent preach- er ; for it was a common practice at that period to deliver public discourses in the college, previous to ordination. His sermons were much esteemed for sound reasoning, enlightened views of theology, and a judicious application of scriptural principles to the ordinary duties of life ; qualities seldom found in the sermons of the time, which were generally either cha- racterized by a spirit of fanaticism, or filled with the unprofitable disquisitions of scholastic theology. Of MEMOIR OF RAT. 21 the nature and beneficial tendency of his early dis- courses, we are enabled to judge from some ex- amples that have been preserved, and especially from his valuable? Treatise on the Wisdom of God in Creation, and Phy si co-theological Discourses concerning the Chaos, Deluge, and Dissolution of the World, which in their original form were theo- logical exercises, or common-places, as they were termed, delivered in the college. The turbulent and unsettled state of the country previous to the restoration, caused Mr Ray to defer his design of taking orders, but the tranquillity re- sulting from that event seemed to hold out the pro- mise of better times. He was ordained both deacon and priest, by Dr Sanderson, bishop of Lincoln, «*-* the Barbican Chapel, London, on the 23d Decem- ber, 1660. He continued to be a fellow of Trinity College till the passing of the famous Bartholomew Act in 1662, for enforcing uniformity, by which so many conscientious divines were deprived of their livings. Had this enactment merely required an attestation against the Solemn League and Cove- nant, there is no reason to suppose that Ray would have refused to comply ; for he by no means ap- proved of that oath, and on every occasion showed the warmest attachment to the doctrines and dis- cipline of the Church of England. But a declara- tion was likewise required, that those who had taken the oath did not lie under obligation to keep it, a requisition which was so repugnant to Ray's prin- 22 MEMOIR OF RAT. ciples that he did not hesitate to reject it. He was accordingly deprived of his fellowship for non-con- formity, along with thirteen others belonging to the university of Cambridge. Ray's ardent desire of knowledge, and the plea- sure he derived from pursuits so congenial to his taste and disposition, led him sooner or later to in- vestigate almost every department of Natural His- tory. But botany, a subject which has attracted so many youthful minds to the study of nature, was the object of his earliest predilection, and it like- wise continued throughout the greater part of his life to engross the largest share of his attention. Little had hitherto been done for this science, either in Britain or on the Continent. When Ray first turned his attention to it, it was nearly in the same condition in which Turner had found it about a century before. Almost the only works that treated of plants were styled " Herbals," of which the in- dividual just named might well say, that they were " al full of unlearned cacographees, and falsely naming of herbs." Their use in medicine was the only consideration that recommended plants to at- tention ; and while all the works relating to the sub- ject were, to quote from the title-page of one of them, " compyled, composed, and auctorysed by divers and many noble Doctours and expert Maysters in Medycynes," the object at which they aimed may be gathered from the title of the " Grete Herball," which professed to give " parfyt knowledge and un- MEMOIR OF BAY. 23 derstanding of all manner of Herbes, and their gra- cyous vertues which God hath ordeyned for our prosperous welfare and helth, for they hele and cure all manner of dyseases and sicknesses that fall or misfortune to all manner of creatures of God created." Instead therefore of being valued, as they are by modern botanists, for their rarity and beauty, or as supplying a link in the chain of natural affinities, the highest recommendation which plants could pos- sess may be supposed to be similar to that men- tioned by the apothecary in the tale, when he found one that was unknov/n to him, " that it had a fine poisonous smell, and must be good for something !" No trial had been made to form a system of arrange- ment, and the particular localities of species were very little regarded. His first work on this subject was named Catalo- gits Plantarum circa Cantabrigiam nascentium, which was published in 1 660. It was nothing more than the title imports, a mere catalogue of plants, with the addition of the place of their growth. No generic characters or description of species are given, nor is there any attempt at systematic arrangement, the names being simply placed in alphabetical order. The favourable manner in which this publication was received, and the impulse it gave (notwithstand- ing its local reference and uninviting nature) to the study of botany, induced its author to form the de- sign of preparing a similar work applicable to the whole of England. He thus explains his intentions in 24 MEMOIR OF RAT. a letter to his valued friend Mr Willughby : " You remember that we lately, out of Gerard, Parkinson, and Phytologia Britannica, made a collection of rare plants, whose places are therein mentioned, and ranked them under the several counties. My intention now is to carry on and perfect that design ; to which purpose I am now writing to all my friends and acquaintance who are skilful in herbary, to re- quest them this next summer, each to search dili- gently his countrey for plants, and to send me a ca» talogue of such as they find, together with the places where they grow. In divers counties I have such as are skilful and industrious. For Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire I must beg your assistance, which I hope and am confident you will be willing to contribute. After that, partly by my own search, partly by the mentioned assistance, I shall have got as much information and knowledge of the plants of each countrey as I can (which will require some years), I do design to put forth a compleat P. B. First I shall give the names of all plants which are or shall then be found growing in England, in an alpha- betical order ; together with their synonyma. I shall also put a full Index Anglicolatinus, after the man- ner of that in the Cat. Cant. Then I shall put in the counties, with the several rare plants in them marshalled alphabetically," &c.* For the accom- plishment of this object, but little aid could be de- * Philosophical Letters, p. 356. MEMOIR OF BAY. 25 rived from books. The only enumeration of British plants that had been attempted was by William Howe, in his Phytologia Britannica, published in 1650. But that work was too meagre and inaccu- rate to be of much service, and the Pinax rerum J3ntannicarum of Merret, which professed to give the history of every kingdom of nature, was equally undeserving of commendation. Ray was therefore obliged to rely on the contributions of his numerous friends, and his own industry. He travelled through the greater part of England and Wales, zealously investigating the indigenous plants ; nor did he ne- glect the opportunity which these excursions afford- ed, of examining every thing that was new or interest- ing either in nature or art. Local'and general history, traditions, antiquities, provincial language and man- ners, occasionally shared his attention with the more direct objects of his research. He kept a journal of his proceedings, in which he recorded his observa- tions, and inserted the localities of the rarer plants. This curious production was published after his death by Dr Derham, under the title of Itineraries. In 1661 he made a journey into Scotland, accompa- nied by his scientific friends Mr Willughby and Mr Skippon, to examine the natural productions of that country, which were even less known than those of England. His route lay through Berwick, Dunbar, and Edinburgh. On their way to the latter place, the party visited the Bass Island, — a spot probably of more interest to the ornithologist than almost any 26 MEMOIR OF EAT. other of equal extent. His description of the solan goose, of which this rock is well known to be one of the principal haunts, is accurate. " The old ones are all over white, excepting the pinion or hard feathers of their wings, which are black. The upper part of the head and neck, in those that are old, is of a yellowish dun colour. They lay but one egg a-piece, which is white, and not very large : they are very bold, and sit in great multitudes till one comes close up to them, because they are not wont to be scared or disturbed. The young ones are esteemed a choice dish in Scotland, and sold very dear (Is. 8d. plucked). We eat of them at Dunbar. They are in bigness little inferior to an ordinary goose. The young one is upon the back black, and speckled with little white spots, under the breast and belly grey. The beak is sharp- pointed, the mouth very wide and large, the tongue very small, the eyes great, the foot hath four toes webbed together. It feeds upon mackerel and her- ring, and the flesh of the young one smells and tastes strong of these fish. The laird of this island makes a great profit yearly of the solan geese taken; as I remember, they told us L.I 30 sterling. They make strangers that come to visit it Burgesses of the Basse, by giving them to drink of the water of the well, which springs near the top of the rock, and a flower out of the garden thereby."* His stay in the metropolis of Scotland was very * Itineraries, p. 191. MEMOIR OF RAY. 27 short, but he visited the principal public buildings, and gives a brief account of them. From Edin- burgh he proceeded to Stirling and Glasgow ; from thence to Hamilton and Douglas, the latter of which he calls a pitiful, poor, small place, with scarce a house in it that will keep a man dry in a shower of rain ; and re-entered England by way of Dumfries and Carlisle. Ray does not appear to have derived much satis- faction from his northern tour. He was disappoint- ed in one of his principal objects, as he failed in dis- covering any new plants.* His remarks on Scotland are frequently made in a spirit of acrimony, which was foreign to the natural placability of his temper. It is probable that he was subjected to much incon- venience on the road, as the country was in a very disturbed state, and the accommodation for travellers of the most indifferent description. Neither were some of his observations on the social condition of the inhabitants of a kind calculated to awaken re- * We know not on what authority it is asserted (Brews- ter's Edin. Encyc.) that Ray discovered many new plants in Scotland, since he expressly affirms in a letter to Mr Wiliisel that he found none. The southern division of the country bears so much resemblance to England in all the circumstances that seem to influence the distribution of plants, that scarcely any appreciable dissimilarity is to be expected. The primitive and alpine districts of the north present of course a very distinct vegetation, but these do not appear to have ever been visited by Ray* 28 MEMOIR OF RAY. gard, or produce agreeable associations. He states that while he was in Scotland, divers women were burnt for witches, to the number, it was reported, of about 120! And during his walks about Edin- burgh, one of the spectacles that presented itself was the heads of Argyle and Guthry fixed on the gates of the tollbooth. The following extract con- tains his opinion of the Scotch, and is of consider- able interest in a historical point of view. " The Scots generally (that is the poorer sort), wear, the men blue bonnets on their, heads, and some russet ; the women only white linnen, which hangs down their backs as if a napkin were pinned about them. When they go abroad none of them wear hats, but a party-coloured blanket, which they call a plad, over their heads and shoulders. The women generally to us seemed none of the hand- somest. They are not very cleanly in their houses, and but sluttish in dressing their meat. Their way of washing linnen is to tuck up their coats, and tread them with their feet in a tub. They have a custom to make up the fronts of their houses, even in their principal towns, with firr boards nailed one over ano- ther, in which are often made many round holes or windows to put out their heads. In the best Scot- tish houses, even the king's palaces, the windows were not glazed throughout, but the upper part on- ly, the lower have two wooden shuts or folds to open at pleasure, and admit tbe fresh air. The Scots cannot endure to hear their country or countrymen MEMOIR OF KAY. 29 spoken against. They have neither good bread, cheese, or drink. They cannot make them, nor will they learn. Their butter is very indifferent, and one would wonder how they could contrive to make it so bad. They use much pottage made of coal-wort, which they call keal, sometimes broth of decorticated barley. The ordinary country-houses are pitiful cots, built of stone, and covered with turves, having in them but one room, many of them no chimneys, the windows very small holes, and not glazed. In the most stately and fashionable houses in great towns, instead of cieling, they cover the chambers with firr boards, nailed on the roof within side. They have rarely any bellows or warming-pans. It is the man- ner in some places there, to lay on but one sheet as large as two, turned up from the feet upwards. The ground in the valleys and plains bears good corn, but especially beer-barley or bigge, and oats, but rarely wheat and rye. We observed little or no fallow grounds in Scotland ; some laved ground we saw, which they manured with sea-wreck. The people seemed to be very lazy, at least the men, and may be frequently observed to plow in their cloaks. It is the fashion of them to wear cloaks when they go abroad, but especially on Sundays They lay out most they are worth in cloaths, and a fellow that has scarce ten groats besides to help himself with, you shall see come out of his srooaky cottage clad like a gentleman."* * Itineraries^ p. 186. 30 MEMOIR OF BAY. After exploring the natural productions of Britain with so much diligence and success, Mr Ray became desirous of gaining some acquaintance with those of other countries ; and for this purpose formed a plan, in concert with his steady coadjutor Mr Wil- lughby, for visiting the Continent. They sailed from Dover in April 1663, accompanied by Mr Na- thaniel Bacon, and Mr, afterwards Sir Philip, Skip- pon, two of Ray's pupils. They passed through the Low Countries, Germany, &c. ; traversed Italy, and even visited Sicily and Malta. On their return they spent a considerable time in Switzerland, where Ray is said by Haller to have discovered many new plants, although that was the scene where Gesner and the two Bauhines had laboured so assi- duously. The result of his foreign travels was given to the public in 1673, under the title of " Ob- servations topographical, moral, and physiological, made in a journey through part of the Low Coun- tries, Germany, Italy, and France." Mr Willughby separated from the party at Montpellier, and made a tour through Spain, an account of which is like- wise included in the volume. When he returned home, Ray continued to pro- secute the study of British plants with unremitting assiduity, and to make excursions to the more re- mote parts of the country to ascertain their locali- ties. On these occasions he was usually accompa- nied by Mr Willughby or some other scientific friend, and his researches were not confined to plants, hut MEMOIR OF HAY. 21 extended to various departments of the animal king- dom, particularly birds and fishes. In the summer of 1667 he traversed Cornwall, where he found many plants previously unknown to him, and made observations on the metals found in that county, and the mode of smelting them, which were afterwards published. When not occupied in this manner, he spent much of his time at Middleton-Park in War- wickshire, the seat of Mr Willughby. In a letter from that place to Dr Martin Lister, dated June 1667, he thus describes his occupations : " For my own part, I cannot boast of many discoveries made the last year, save of mine own errors. After i took my leave of you at Cambridge, I divided the re- mainder of the summer between Essex and Sussex, visiting several friends. My spare hours I bestow- ed in reading over such books of natural philosophy as came out since my being abroad, viz. Hook's Micrographia, Mr Boyle's Usefulness of Natural Philosophy, Sydenham on Fevers, the Philosophical Transactions, &c. The most part of the winter I spent in reviewing, and helping to put in order, Mr Willughby's collection of birds, fishes, shells, stones, and other fossils ; seeds, dried plants, coins, £c. ; in giving what assistance I could to Dr Wilkins, in framing his tables of plants, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, &c. for the use of the universal character ; in gathering up into a catalogue all such plants as I hod found at any time growing wild in England, not in order to the present publishing of them, but 32 MEMOIR OF BAY. for my own use, possibly one day that they may see the light ; at present the world is glutted with Dr Merret's bungling Pinax. I resolve never to put out any thing which is not as perfect as it is possible for me to make it. I wish you would take a little pains this summer about grasses, that so we might compare notes ; for I would fain clear and complete their history." The famous work of Dr Wilkins on a universal character, alluded to in the above letter, subse- quently entailed on Mr Ray a great degree of labour ; for he undertook, at the earnest solicitation of its author, to translate it into Latin. When this labo- rious task was accomplished, the manuscript was de- posited in the library of the Royal Society, where it has continued ever since, no one having undertaken its publication. By this time Ray's reputation as an accomplished naturalist and philosopher was fully established, and he had become either the personal friend or cor- respondent of all the individuals of any eminence who then directed their attention to the study of nature. Of these the best known to modern na- turalists are Dr Martin Lister, whose works on tes- taceous animals, and treatise De Araneis, are scarce- ly yet surpassed for precise description and lumi- nous arrangement; Sir Hans Sloane — the Sir Joseph Banks of his day — whose extensive collections and valuable library (which formed, as is well known, the original nucleus of the present vast assemblage MEMOIR OF RAY. 33 in the British Museum) contributed so essentially to the progress of natural history ; and, at a later period, Dr Derham, the learned and eloquent author of the Physico and Astro- Theology. He was like- wise solicited to become a member of the Royal Society, an institution recently established, but which had already done much in diffusing a taste for the physical sciences, and had given a powerful impulse to the study of natural history. He was admitted on the 7th November 1667, and several papers from his pen afterwards appeared in the So- ciety's Transactions. The description and classification of vegetables were not the only departments of botany that re- ceived illustration from Ray's labours ; he likewise ascertained some important facts in their physiolo- gy. The theory of vegetation wras at this time very imperfectly understood, and every observation found- ed on careful experiment possessed of value. The accurate investigations of Grew and Malpighi were destined, soon after, to throw a powerful light on this difficult and interesting subject. In the spring of 1669, Ray availed himself of the privileged se- clusion of Middleton-Hall, and the observational powers and co-operation of its amiable proprietor, to institute a series of experiments on the motion of the sap in trees. The object was to ascertain the manner in which the sap ascends, and whether it likewise flows through the woody part of the tree. By boring holes of different depth into the trunk 34 MEMOIE OF BAY. before the expansion of the leaves, it was clearly proved that the sap flows not only through the inner bark, but by all the pores of the wood; for the quan- tity of sap that issued was found to be in proportion to the depth of the hole. " To put it out of all doubt," says Mr Ray, " we took away, on one side of a birch tree, bark and wood to a considerable depth, and bored an hole into the tree, where the piece was taken away ; out of which hole it bled copiously, notwithstanding we carefully prevented any other sap coming on the filter, but what pro- ceeded from the hole." The mucilaginous nature of the sap likewise attracted attention, and Ray in- geniously remarks, that "the white coagulum or jelly which is precipitated, may be well conceived to be the part which every year, between bark and tree, turns to wood, and of which the leaves and fruit are made. And it seems to precipitate more when the tree is just ready to put out leaves, and begins to cease dropping, than at its first bleeding." Experi- ments of a similar kind seem to have been continu- ed for several years, as we find frequent allusion made to them in Ray's letters to Dr Lister and others of his correspondents. The results to which they led were communicated to the Royal Society, and subsequently published in the Philosophical Transactions. In his numerous journeys throughout almost every part of England and Wales, Ray had acquired, with that spirit of active enquiry which permitted the MEMOIE OP RAY. 25 neglect of no branch of useful knowledge, an ex- tensive acquaintance with the proverbial expressions used in different parts of the country, and likewise of the local words and idioms that prevailed in dif- ferent provinces. Under the impression that such a work might be of use to certain classes of the community, he arranged the proverbs in methodical order, and published them at Cambridge in 1672. Even in this unambitious kind of literary labour, he showed a good deal of philological learning and critical sagacity; and this production, which, he says, he esteems a toy and a trifle, not worth the owning, has made his name known to many of his countrymen, unacquainted with his claims to higher literary distinction. His Collection of Unusual or local English Words was published nearly at the same time, and was accompanied with a catalogue of birds and fishes, and an account of the mode of smelting and refining metals as practised in Eng- land. In a subsequent edition these accessory arti- cles were omitted, as they had been published sepa- rately in a more perfect form. We learn from a letter to Dr Lister, that about this time he was solicited to accompany three young noblemen to the Continent in the capacity of tutor This offer he was at first inclined to accept, espe- cially as it offered him the opportunity of examin- ing the alpine plants of Switzerland with more care than he had been able to do on his former visit; but he was obliged to decline it on account of the de- 36 MEMOIR OF RAY. licate state of his health. The conditions he con- sidered liberal, and the manner in which he expresses himself regarding them, affords an example of that dif- fidence and humility which were conspicuous in his character. " Ego certe meipsum tali negotio imparem et minus idoneum judico; nee si idoneus essem, puto me tantam mercedem aut stipendium mereri posse. Centum librae annuatim offeruntur, necessariis om- nibus expensis etiam persolutis."* In the year 1672, Ray sustained an irreparable loss by the premature death of Mr Willughby. They had been fellow-collegians at Trinity College, and the acquaintanceship there formed, was speedily matured by community of tastes and pursuits into the most intimate and endearing friendship. Possessed of ample fortune, family influence, and high mental endowments, Mr Willughby might have attained to some of the most envied objects to which ambition aspires ; but his disposition led him to prefer the tranquil enjoyments that flow from the investigation of nature, and the cultivation of the generous affec- tions and contemplative habits which that study is calculated to promote. The zeal with which he laboured, is sufficiently evinced by what he accom- plished during his short life ; and had Providence spared him to complete the extensive designs he had formed, his name would have occupied a most conspicuous place in the annals of science. The * Philosophical Letters, p. 72. MEMOIR OF RAT. 37 distinction that now attaches to it, is chiefly to be at- tributed to the affectionate care of Ray, who under- took to complete and publish several works which he left imperfect ; a task which he executed with so much fidelity and regard to the fame of his de- ceased friend, that the reader is led to attribute to Mr Willughby much of the merit that belonged exclusively to Ray. These important works will be mentioned more particularly hereafter. They were originally undertaken in conformity with a plan for furnishing a complete history and description of plants and animals, of which the following account is given by Dr Derham, who derived his informa- tion directly from Ray. " These two gentlemen, finding the history of nature very imperfect, had agreed between themselves, before their travels be- yond sea, to reduce the several tribes of things to a method ; and to give accurate descriptions of the several species, from a strict view of them. And forasmuch as Mr Willughby's genius lay chiefly to Animals, therefore he undertook the Birds, Beasts, Fishes, and Insects, as Mr Ray did the Vegetables. How each of these two great men discharged his province, the world hath seen in their works. Mr Willughby's labours were so incessant in his studies, that he allowed himself little or no time for those recreations and diversions which men of his estate and degree are apt to spend too much of their time in ; but he prosecuted his design with as great ap- plication, as if he had been to get his bread thereby. 38 MEMOIR OF RA.Y. All which I mention," adds this amiable writer " not only out of the great respect I bear to Mf Willughby's memory, but for an example to persons of great estate and quality, that they may be ex- cited to answer the ends for which God gives them estates, leisure, parts, and gifts, and a good genius ; which was not to exercise themselves in vain or sinful follies, but to be employed for the glory, and in the service, of the Infinite Creator, and in doing good offices in the world."* This event exercised a considerable influence on Ray's future life. He was appointed one of Mr Willughby's executors, and at the same time charged with the care and education of his two infant sons ; while, as a still further token of esteem, an annuity for life was bequeathed to him. In execution of the trust thus confided to him, it became necessary that he should take up his residence at Middleton-Hall, where ample occupation awaited him, in addition to what arose from the superintendence of his youthful charge, in arranging and completing the MSS. of his lamented friend. He was likewise obliged to interrupt his simpling excursions (as Derham calls them), and to decline the generous invitation sent to him about this time by Dr Lister, to come and live with him at York, where he then practised as a physician. While yet absorbed in grief for the loss of his * Derham's Life of Ray, p. 48. MEMOIR OF BAY. best friend, he was subjected to another, scarcely less afflicting, by the death of Bishop Wilkins, an event of which he says that it occasioned him un- speakable loss and grief. The most intimate friend- ship had long subsisted between Ray and this learned prelate, and the former had been of the most essential service, in drawing up tables of plants and animals for the elaborate work on a Real Cha- racter. Through his influence Ray might readily have obtained preferment in the church, but he persisted in a conscientious resolution not to sign the necessary articles.* Ray's natural sensibility and ardent temperament, made him feel these losses in the acutest manner ; but they fell upon a mind deeply imbued with Christian principle, and accustomed to recognise the beneficent appointments of a presiding power, in the most trivial as well as in the most important incidents to which our nature is liable. How much this was the habit of his mind, appears from various * In reply to a letter in which Dr Lister had expressed a hope that he would avail himself of the influence allud- ed to, Ray writes, " D. Wilkins, in episcopalem cathedrum evectum, et suiipsius, et mei, et pnecipue ecclesiae causa vehementer gaudeo : me tamen per eum ecclesise resti- turum iri, stante sententia, plane est impossible, nee enim unquam adduci me posse puto ut declaration! sub- scribam quam lex non ita pridem lata presbyteris aliisque ecclesise ministris injungit, nee tamen tanti est jactura mei qui nulli fere usui ecclesiae futurus essem, utut (quod iici solet) rectus in curia starem." — Phil. Let. p. 35. 40 MEMOIR OF RAY. prayers and devotional exercises, written on occa- sion of the death of some of his friends, which are calculated to convey an exalted idea of his piety. His social circle being thus diminished, and finding himself with a settled occupation likely to be of con- siderable duration, he sought to increase his domes- tic comforts by marriage. His choice was a young woman then residing at Middleton-Hall, named Mar- garet Oakley, the daughter of a gentleman of that name, belonging to Launton in Oxfordshire. The marriage was celebrated in Middleton church, on the 5th June 1673, Ray being then in his forty-fifth year, and the lady not above twenty. After this event, he continued to reside at Mid- dleton-Hall, and to superintend the education of his pupils ;* a task in which Mrs Ray is said to have lightened his labour by teaching some of the easier branches herself. For the use of his pupils, he composed a small work named Nomenclator Classi- cus, which was first published in 1672. The object of it was to give a correct explanation of Greek and Latin terms, especially such as apply to natural ob- jects ; a purpose for which it is said to have been of essential service. For several years subsequent to his marriage, * The eldest of these youths was created a baronet when about ten years of age, but died before attaining majority. The younger was raised to the peerage by Queen Anne, under the title of Lord Middleton. Their sister Cassandra- became Countess of Caernarvon. MEMOIR OP HAY. Ray's literary occupations consisted in the prepa- ration for the press of Willughby's book on birds, the completion of some of his own works on botany, and various contributions to the Royal Society. The latter related chiefly to the natural history of the higher animals, but they likewise communicated valuable information regarding insects, spiders, and the myriapodae. The physiology of vegetation also formed a subject of communication, and on one oc- casion, at the request of the indefatigable secretary Mr Oldenburgh, who was one of Ray's regular cor- respondents, the latter furnished one of the philoso- phical discourses annually read to the society, which was received with great approbation. The subject was, the nature of seeds, and the specific differ- ences of plants. Willughby's observations on birds were written in Latin, and the work was accordingly completed in that language, and published in the year 1675. Nothing was omitted by the editor to render it as complete as possible. The descriptions are frequently of considerable length, and will often be found more correct and satisfactory than many of those contained in the numerous and costly works which have since been devoted to this favourite tribe of animals. Ray afterwards prepared an English translation, to which he made large additions, and gave it to the public in 1678. In this edition, the plates were likewise improved and increased in num- ber ; but their execution was by no means satisfactory to Ray, as the engravers were but little experienced 42 MEMOIR OF EAT. in representing such objects, and his distance from London prevented him from giving efficient direc- tions. The death of Mr Willughby's mother, which happened about the year 1676, produced a consi- derable change in Ray's domestic relations. His pupils were taken from under his charge, and he no longer continued to reside at Middleton-Hall. He took up his abode for a time at Sutton Cofield, a few miles distant ; but soon removed to Falborne-Hall, in Essex, which was in the vicinity of his native place. During his residence there, his mother died at Black Notley, an event of which the following notice is found in his diary: "March 15, 1678, departed this life, my most dear and honoured mother Elizabeth Ray, of Black Notley, in her house on Dewlands, in the hall chamber, about three of the clock in the after- noon, aged, as I suppose, seventy-eight : whose death, for some considerations, was a great wound to me. Yet have I good hope that her soul is received to the mercy of God, and her sins pardoned through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, in whom she trusted, and whose servant she hath been from her youth up, sticking constantly to her profession, and never leaving the church in these times of gid- diness and distraction." Shortly afterwards he re- moved to Black Notley with his family, in which place he intended, as he himself expressed it, to settle, if such was the will of God, for the short pit- tance of time he had yet to live in this world. MEMOIR OF RAY. 43 Freed from the interruptions to which he had been for some time exposed, first by his duties as a tutor and guardian, and more recently by his fre- quent removal from one place to another, he had now the happiness of being able to give that direc- tion to his studies which his inclination prompted, and in which he felt himself fitted to confer most benefit on science. It is observed by Haller, that few have enjoyed to the same extent as Ray, the rare felicity of devoting so many years uninter- ruptedly to the study of a favourite subject. It may be added, that still fewer have equally improved the opportunities that occurred to them. The works which he completed after his final settlement at Not- ley are so numerous, that he may be ranked among the most voluminous writers on botany ; and while these, together with his publications in various de- partments of zoology, have established his high re- putation as a philosophical naturalist, his admirable treatises on religious subjects, all tending to enforce the observance of practical piety, have gained him the incomparably more enviable distinction, of having benefited his fellow men in the most important in- terests that attach to their nature. Of the most re- markable of these productions we shall now proceed to give some account ; for their collective value is so considerable, that they mark an important epoch in the progressive history of natural knowledge. The Methodus Plantarum Nova issued from the Dress in 1682. It contains Ray's first attempt to 44 MEMOIR OF RAY. arrange plants in methodical order. They were distributed in the following manner : Woody Plants. Trees I Shrubs 2 Herbaceous Plants. Imperfect 3 Without a flower 4 Capillary .....5 Grassy 6 With one naked seed • 7 Umbellate 8 Verticillate 9 Rough-leaved 10 Stellate 11 Pome-bearing 12 Berry-bearing 13 Many-podded 14 With one regular petal 15 With one irregular petal 16 Tetrapetalous, siliquose 17 Tetrapetalous, siliculose 18 Papilionaceous 19 Pentapetalous 20 Frumenta, or the different kinds of corn that af- ford food to men 21 Grasses 22 Grassy-leaved plants 23 Bulbous 24 Allied to the bulbous 25 MEMOIR OF RAY. 45 This arrangement is, to a considerable extent, con- formable to that of Csesalpinus, published in 1583, who was the first to avail himself of Gesners judicious suggestion to arrange vegetables by means of their fructification. But while the peculiarities of the fruit were continually kept in view, and may be said to form the basis of his method, Ray perceived the propriety of seeking for distinctive characters in the other parts of a plant, in consequence of which he has made a nearer approach to a natural arrange- ment than any preceding systematist. He has cer- tainly surpassed his predecessor Morison, a native of Aberdeen, and professor of botany at Oxford, whose system was first published at Paris in 1669, and which is greatly more complex than that of Caesalpinus, without being more useful in the ex- trication of natural affinities. It will be perceived that Ray adopts the ancient primary division of plants into trees, shrubs, and herbs ; although, as Sir J. E. Smith observes, his own prefatory remarks tend to overset that principle, as a vulgar and casual one, unworthy of a philosopher. To this supposed fundamental distinction, however, he continued to adhere, but he soon rectified many of the other errors of his first arrangement, such as the sepa- ration of the cereale grasses from their obvious as- sociates, in an improved method subsequently pub- lished. This arrangement, which contains his most matured views on the subject, consists of thirty-four classes, distributed as follows : 46 MEMOIR OF EAY. •x j : ^3 |^> : | 2 £3 SB v -S 8 ^ ; 3 | .„ > |u '* "£ ^ 2 = § ® J2 ']t a "* 5J 2 In n-?iS B c/ C E 1 ^ j; £ fl ^ a S — 5 c: 1 i ST 1 1 ^C1 ~ fcdD cc 712 = § 8 g-s ^Soa 3 F-' ! j } ^ rs&i !oac! |j j 5 £ j i— N ;a rs-a ? > o Si ^>P- rrt ^c 5 C [ft 3 •» .^ J 0 -^ 5 0 "3 ;^g CO 3 1 5 0, > ) 1 c/ 1 « | |-r- ^ i« -a I (D 0) ^ 4_> r^ X «J T3 *S : 3 > o ^ "^ ^ J2 ^ a M _^ ^ » J3 G § « >>g S s s s is £ « & 3 ZZ& S i £ !< ^6^ ^^ 5 8 1.111 "5 « MEMOIR OF RAY. O» O ~* CQ CO r-< r 5 S 1 s « r> C c !/ 1-1 5 +• il 1 r/ 5 ^ y !i b |g = &«0 £ sra l||f|1 sr 48 MEMOIR OF BAY. This method, like the former, is in a considerable degree founded on the fruit, but the other parts are adopted without hesitation whenever they afford strongly marked characters of distinction. One of its principal merits consists in assigning a distinct class to the palms, which had scarcely been recog- nised in any previous system. The arrangement of the other trees, according to the nature of the fruc- tification, which was the most defective part of the first method, is also deserving of high commenda- j- tion. " But the chief glory of Ray's second method/' says the Rev. Mr Wood, " arises from its taking the lead in distributing plants according to the number of their cotyledons. This, indeed, no one would suspect from the tabular view of it, as it stands in Philosophia Botanica ; nor does it appear in Ray's own table of contents, which Linnaeus has very carelessly transcribed and unwarrantably abridged. But the distinction is clearly pointed out and ex- plained in the work itself, into which one would think that Linnaeus had never looked. " Floriferas dividemus," is the perspicuous language of Ray. " in dicotyledones, quarum semina sata binis foliis anomalis seminalibus dictis, quae cotyledonum usum praestant, e terra exeunt, vel in binas saltern lobos dividuntur, quamvis eos supra terram foliorum spe- cie non efferant ; et monocotyledones, quae nee folia seminalia bina efferunt, nee binos lobos con dun t. Haec divisio ad arbores etiam extendi pctest ; si- quidem palmae et congeneres hoc respectu eodem MEMOIR OF EAY. 49 modo a reliquis arboribus difFerunt quo monocotyl dones a reliquis herbis." It is with peculiar satis- faction that we thus do justice to our great British naturalist, and restore to him the honour of which he has been in a great measure deprived. We readily acknowledge that we are proud of being able to call him our countryman, for he was in all re- spects as good as he was great. How far we may be unduly biassed by natural patriotic feelings, it is not in our power to determine ; but while our pre- sent convictions continue, we cannot allow a decided pre-eminence to Tournefort. Both of them, indis- putably, possessed supereminent excellence, and we cannot but lament that they were not better friends. But irritabile genus is a character which might have been extended by the poet much beyond his own fraternity.5'* The first work in which he made a practical ap- plication of his system, and long before he had ren- dered it so complete as it appears in the above ta- ble, was his general Historia Plantarum, of which the first volume, forming a thick folio, was publish- ed in 1686. He undertook this work at the re- quest of several of his learned friends, particularly two gentlemen of rank named Hatton, to whom the first volume is dedicated. The second volume ap- peared about a year afterwards, and a supplementary one was added in 1704. In this arduous undertaking * Rees' Cyclopaedia. 50 MEMOIE OF EA1. he received considerable assistance from many of his scientific friends, especially Mr Skippon, Sir Hans Sloane, Dr Tancred Robinson, and Mr Dale ; but it demanded on his part the most persevering and in- defatigable industry. It is truly characterized by Linnaeus as opus immensi laboris. It embodies all that is valuable in preceding writers, and forms a complete epitome of the botanical lore of the age. It likewise gives the substance of many works, such as the Hortus Malabaricus, which are inaccessible, from their rarity, to the generality of readers. To its value as a compilation are added all the practical! knowledge, original observation, and critical discern- ment of its author. The descriptions are frequently of great length, and in general remarkably accurate. To these are added the place of growth, time of flowering, qualities, and uses. Under the latter head the author has collected much curious and interesting informa- tion. The usefulness of this elaborate work is, how- ever, greatly impaired by the difficulty in identifying the species, from the vagueness of the generic and specific characters. This inconvenience would have been in a great measure obviated by the proposal made to Ray by the Bishop of London, to have en- graved figures of the whole ; but the difficulty of accomplishing this was found to be so great, that the design was ultimately abandoned.* Two editions of the catalogue of English plants * Philosophical Letters, p. 319-320. MEMOIR OF RAY. 51 being now exhausted, Ray began to prepare a tnird for the press, but the booksellers who had purchas- ed the copyright of the early editions, threw so many obstacles in the way, that he was induced en- tirely to remodel the work, and publish it in a differ- ent form. But as this could not be accomplished for some time, in order, in the mean while, to satisfy tne importunity of his botanical friends, he publish- ed, in 1688, his Fasciculus Stirpium P^itannica- rum post editum Catalogum Plantarum, &c. The other work appeared in 1690, under the title of Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum. Tnis publication, in the opinion of one of the most com- petent judges, Sir J. E. Smith, is the great corner stone of his reputation in this department of science. " Of all the systematical and practical floras of any country, the second edition of Ray's synopsis is the most perfect that ever came under our observation. He examined every plant recorded in the work, and even gathered most of them himself. He investi- gated their synonyms with consummate accuracy ; and if the clearness and precision of other authors had equalled his, he would scarcely have committed an error. It is difficult to find him in a mistake or misconception respecting nature herself, though he sometimes misapprehends the bad figures or lame descriptions he was obliged to consult."* The se- cond edition, above referred to, was published i& * Trans. Linn. Soc. iv. 277. 52 MEMOIR OF RAY. 1696, with the addition of more than a hundred species, and a history and arrangement of mosses, mushrooms, fuci, and other cryptogamous plants. The edition now most in use, is that published many years after the author's death by the celebrated Dilienius. Although our accomplished naturalist was so much occupied with his botanical labours, and writes to one of his correspondents that he resembled him who said, Pectora nostra duas non admittentia euros* yet such was his industry, that he was enabled to prepare for the press the valuable but incomplete and ill-digested materials left by Mr Willughby for a general history of fishes. As the pecuniary aid which was liberally contributed by Willughby's re- lations to the former work was in this instance with- held, the book was printed, through the interest of Bishop Fell, at the theatre in Oxford, and the ex- pense of the plates defrayed by several members of the Royal Society. The Historia Piscium forms a folio volume, and is illustrated by 188 plates. It is a valuable contribution to the natural history of a class of animals which, after quadrupeds, are of the greatest utility to man, but which are less known, notwithstanding the recent exertions of Lacepede, Cuvier, and Valenciennes, than any other depart- ment of the animal kingdom. It had always been matter of deep regret to Ray that he was prevented from engaging in the active duties of his profession : his earnest desire to pro- MEMOIR OF RAT. 53 mote the spiritual good of others led him, therefore, to attempt through the press what he could not ac- complish otherwise. The subject which he first selected for this purpose was admirably fitted to call forth the qualities in which he most excelled, and his instructive and enlightened manner of treat- ing it has been acknowledged by all. " The Wisdom of God, manifested in the Works of the Creation," the volume to which we allude, has been universally admired as an able exposition of the power, the goodness, and other attributes of the Deity, as they are reflected from the mirror of creation, and as far as they can be " understood by the things that are made." The tendency of his studies, and the cha- racteristic qualities of his mind, enabled him to il- lustrate the subject with a profusion of facts and observations of the most interesting kind ; and the work is pervaded by a spirit of sound philoso- phy and ardent piety, which confer on it a high value. Such was its popularity, that it soon passed through many editions, and was translated into se- veral languages. It has suggested the plan, and furnished many of the most valuable materials, of most of the works that have since been written on the same topic, and has made the name of Ray fa- miliar to the generality of readers even in the pre- sent day. The success of this work led him to prepare an- other of a somewhat similar nature, entitled " Phy- sico- Theological Discourses concerning the primitive 54 MEMOIR OF RAY. Chaos, and Creation of the World : the general De- luge, and Dissolution of the World ;" which was published in 1692, and dedicated to Archbishop Tillotson. Although little known in the present day, this work excited considerable attention at the time it appeared, and soon went through several editions. It is a striking proof of the extent and variety of knowledge which its author possessed ; and, independent of its theoretical views, contains such an assemblage of facts relating to the structure of the earth, and the changes which it has under- gone, that it has not yet altogether lost its utility.* In compliance with the urgent solicitation of Dr Tancred Robinson,/ Ray undertook to prepare a series of synoptical arrangements of such of the other classes of animals as had not been included in his former publications ; thus furnishing a view almost of the whole system of nature, f The first of these works was the Synopsis Methodica Animalium Quadrupedum, et Serpentini Generis, which appeared in 1693. Besides a systematic classification of these animals, it gives a pretty full account of their forms and internal structure, and is enriched with nume- rous important observations, and interesting details, illustrative of their habits and instincts. It was in general use among naturalists till the year 1735, when it was superseded by the system of Linnaeus. * Pulteney's Sketches of the Progress of Botany in England, vol. i. p. 239. MKMOIR OF BAY* £3 This was followed by a Synopsis Methodica Avium et Piscium, in which many species are inserted which had become known to the author since the publication of Willughby's works on the same subjects. Owing to the negligence of the book- seller to whom the copy had been sold, this volume was not given to the world till after Ray's death, when it appeared under the superintendence of Dr Derham, who added several descriptions, together with a series of figures. Our distinguished author was now considerably upwards of sixty years of age, and his constitution, naturally feeble, had been severely tried by his stu- dious and sedentary mode of life. After complet- ing so many useful works, he was pleased, we are told by his biographer Dr Derham, by indulging the thoughts of reposing from his labours. But notwith- standing his bodily infirmities, his mind was still vi- gorous ; and he did not hesitate to engage in another literary undertaking, at the request of his friends. This was to revise and correct an English edition of Rauwolfs Travels in Asia, translated from the High Dutch by Mr Staphorst, a native of Germany. This work contained a good deal of information on many subjects in natural history, and to make it more perfect in this respect, Ray added a catalogue of the plants of Greece, Syria, Egypt, and Crete. It was published, with several rare tracts annexed^in 1693. Some time after his return from the Continent, 56 MEMOIR OF RAY. he had published a Catalogus Stirpium in exteris regionibus, &c., which was now out of print ; and his attention being recalled, by Kauwolf ' s book, to exotic botany, he conceived that it would be of advantage to travellers to have a condensed view of the vegetables of Europe, exclusive of those indi- genous to Britain, which were sufficiently illustrated in his other works. He accordingly collected all that were mentioned by authors, and added them to such as he had himself discovered. This volume appeared in 1694, and was entitled Stirpium Euro- vcjearwm extra Britannias nascentium Sylloge. The plants are arranged in alphabetical order, and, be- sides the addition of various lists from Boecone's Plants of Sicily, and other works, there is subjoined a geographical view of the species which he observed on the Continent ; perhaps the earliest attempt to illustrate the distribution of vegetables that had been made. In the preface to this book he discusses tne merits of a method of arranging plants, proposed by Rivinus, professor of botany at Leipsic, which led to a controversy with that author. The method of Ei- vinus is entirely artificial, and is founded on the regu- larity and irregularity of the corolla, and the number of petals of which it is composed. It has the appear- ance of great simplicity, but leads to many very un- natural combinations, and is, in reality, of difficult and vague application, as the flowers are more lia- ble to vary in the number of their petals than al- most any other part of structure. He was the first MEMOIR OF BAY. 57 who pointed out the inaccuracy of the division of plants into trees, shrubs, under-shrubs, and herba- ceous, a distinction which had been almost universal- ly adopted, and which was warmly defended by Ray, who unaccountably made it the groundwork of his arrangement, although he had declared it to be un- philosophical. Although this controversy was car- ried on with less personal recrimination than usually characterizes such discussions, it was by no means agreeable to Ray, whose Christian principles, no less than the amenity of his disposition, rendered him desirous to live in peace with all men. The prin- cipal benefit that resulted from this altercation, was the improvement which it led him to make in his me- thod of arrangement. These improvements were embodied in the Methodus Plantarum nova emen- data et aucta, and are exhibited in the second ta- bular view which we have given on a former page. Owing to some difficulty in effecting an arrange- ment with the London booksellers for the publica- tion of this work, it was printed at Amsterdam, under the care of Dr Hotton, professor of botany at Leyden ; and its wide diffusion on the Continent made Ray's name as a botanist of European cele- brity. It was published in 1703, arid is the last of his botanical labours. While engaged in its composition, the infirmities of age were rapidly accumulating. He writes to Dr Robertson that he was quite unable to go to Lon- don to examine the different collections of plants, 58 MEMOIE OF EAT. and that lie could not so much as walk into the neighbouring fields. He had laboured for some years under a severe disorder in his legs, which had broken out into ulcers, and occasioned excessive pain. He was likewise seized with other complaints, by which his strength was so much reduced, that it became evident that his mortal career was approach- ing its close. But study had now become so habitual to him, that he did not cease, even under these cir- cumstances, from prosecuting the investigation of nature, and even entering upon subjects compara- tively new to him. It had formed part of Wil- lughby's plan to write a history of insects, and Ray had at an early period given occasional attention to the subject, with a view of assisting in that under- taking. He now resolved to complete the work himself. In reference to it, he writes to Dr Der- ham : " The work which I have now entered upon is indeed too great a task for me ; I am very crazy and infirm, and God knows whether I shall overlive this winter. Cold weather is very grievous to me ; be- Y sides, I have not bestowed sufficient time and pains ^( in the quest of any tribe of insects, except Papilio's, and I have told how far short I am of perfection in that. I rely chiefly on Mr Willughby's discoveries, and the contributions of friends." On another oc- casion he writes to the same individual, " For my part I am now almost three score and fifteen years of age, so that it is time for me to give over these studies and enquiries (he alludes to the history of MEMOIR OF BAT. 59 insects, which he had been recommending Dr Der- ham to pursue) ; and, besides, I am so lame, and al- most continually afflicted with pain, that I cannot attend any study, being diverted by pain. 'Tis true, of late years I have diverted myself by searching out the various species of insects to be found here- abouts ; but I have confined myself chiefly to two or three sorts, viz. Papilios diurnal and nocturnal, Beetles, Bees, and Spiders. Of the first of these I have found about 300 kinds, and there are still remaining many more undiscovered by me, and all within the compass of a few miles. L have now given over my inquisition, bv reason of my dis- ability to prosecute, and my approaching end, which 1 pray God fit me for. xou that have more time betbre you may profitably Desttw some of your spare hours upon such enquiries, and may probably make useful discoveries, at least may reap a great deal ot pleasure ana satisraction in finding out and ormging to ligni some of the works of God not before taken notice of." But before ins increasing infirmities obliged him to abandon this study — the ast that occupied the attention of his active mind — tie had prepared pretty copious materials for a his- tory of insects, which was published after his death by Dr Derham, at the expense of the Royal Society. It comprises all Willughby's descriptions in addi- tion to his own, and forms a small quarto of 398 pages, including an appendix on British Beetles by Dr Lister. The descriptions are frequently of con- 60 MEMOIR OF RAY, iderable length, particularly those of the butterflies, but their value is greatly diminished by the difficulty in determining, owing to the want of plates and pre- cise characters, to what particular species they were designed to apply. Prefixed to the work there is a systematic arrangement of insects, which was at first published by itself under the title of Methodus Insectorum. He divides insects, including under that name intestinal vermes, earth-.worms, and leeches, into two primary sections : those wnicn undergo transformation, and tnose which do not cnange their form. The orders are variously characterized by the want, or presence of feet, place of' abode, struc- ture of" the wings, form of the caterpillar, &c. The following is a tabular view of this arrangement from Kirby and Spence's Introduction, which these ad- mirable authors have compressed into as small a space as possible, by using the Linnaean terms for metamorphoses, and reducing Rav's tribes of Orthop- tert, Hemiptera, and Ne.uroptera* to their modern denominations. MEMOIR OF RAY. 61 62 MEMOIR OF EAT. This classification possesses considerable merit The praise, it is true, of assuming the metamor- phoses of these animals as the basis of a natural arrangement, is due to Swammerdam, but in many other respects Ray has improved on the method of his illustrious cotemporary. He has indicated and characterized several natural groups with great accu- racy ; and many of his suggestions have not been without influence in leading to the present improved state of entomological science. Of the imperfec- tions of his arrangement no one was more fully aware than himself. He laments especially the in- accuracy of that part of it relating to flies, and ex- presses a hope that he should soon be able to fur- nish another more complete.* This expectation, however, was destined never to be realized. His vital powers were gradually exhausted by repeated attacks of disease, and he breathed his last at his residence in Black Notley, on the 17th January 1705. He was buried in the church-yard of his native parish, where a monument was some time afterwards erected to his memory, by the care of Bishop Compton, and others of his friends. It was inscribed with the following elegant Latin epi- taph from the pen of the Rev. William Coy te, M. A* * Hist. Insectorum, p. 109. MEMOIR OF BAY. 63 Eruditissimi Viri JOHANNIS KAII, A. M. Quicquid mortale fuit, Hoc in angusto tumulo reconditum est. At Scripta Non una continet Regio : Et Fama undequaque celeberrima Vetat Mori. Collegii S. S. Trinitatis Cantab, fait olim Socius, Necnon Societatis Regiae apud Londinenses Sodalis, Egrigium utriusque Ornamentum. In omni Scientiarum genere Tarn Divinarum quam Humanarum Ver satis simus. Et sicut alter Solomon (cui forskn Unico Secundus) A Cedro ad Hyssopum, Ab Animalium maximis, ad minima usque Insecta, Exquisitam nactus est Notitiam. Nee de Plantis solum, qua patet Teme facies Accuratissime disseruit ; Sed et intima ipsius viscera sagacissime rimatus, Quicquid notatu dignum in universa Natura de- scripsit. Apud exteras Grentes agens, Quae aliorum Oculos fugerent, diligenter exploravit, Multaque scitu dignissima primus in Lucena protulit : Quod superest, ea Morum Simplicatate prseditus, Ut fuerit absque Invidia Doctus ; Sublimis Ingenii, Et, quod raro accidit, demissi simul animi et mo- desti ; 64 MEMOIR OF RAY. I Non Sanguine et Genere insignis, Sed quod majus, Propria Virtute Illustris. De Opibus Titulisque obtinendi Parum solicitus, Haec potius merer! voluit quam adipisci : Dum sub Private Lare, sua Sorte contentus (Fortuna lautiori dignus) consenuit. In rebus aliis sibi modum facile imposuit, In Studiis nullum. Quid Plura ? Hisce omnibus, Pietatem minime fucatam adjunxit, Ecclesitz Anglicance (Id quod supremo halitu confirmavit) , Totus et ex Animo addictus. Sic bene latuit, bene vixit Yir beatus, Quern Prcesens s£tas colit, Postera mirabitur. We are told by Sir James Edward Smith, that in 1737, the monument bearing the above inscription having gone very much to decay, it was restored at the charge of Dr. Legge, and removed for shelter into the church. Forty years afterwards, the tomb again underwent a repair by the care of the present Sir Thomas Grey Callum and others,* who subjoined a third inscription, as follows : — * It has been again repaired by Mr. "Walker, the Rector of Black Notley. MEMOIR OF EAT. 3D Tumulum hunc a nonnullis humanitati, et scientiae natural!, faventibus, olim conditum, et aliorum bona diligentia postea restauratum, 1737, nunc e vetustatis situ et sordibus pauci de novo revocarunt, 1792. The era in which Ray flourished, is justly de- scribed by Linnaeus as the dawn of the golden age in natural history. In the period that preceded it, the thick darkness that settled, during the middle ages, on, almost every subject worthy to occupy the human faculties, still continued to overshadow the history of nature. Scarcely any effort was made to elucidate even the most familiar phenomena ; and when such was attempted, the want of obser- vation and philosophical discernment was supplied by fictions of the imagination and the extrava- gancies of credulity. Since what had been seen and ascertained was therefore trifling in amount compared with what had been heard and conjec- tured, it is not surprising that the few works of the time devoted to natural history, should so abound in absurd notions and fictitious representations of animal forms, as to be useful for nothing but point- ing out the illusions to which mankind have been subject. The investigations of Ray and his co- 66 MEMOIR OF BAY. temporaries, pursued in the rigorous spirit of the in- ductive philosophy, soon dissipated these delusions, by bringing every thing to the test of strict obser- vation. One of the first fruits of this auspicious change, was the triumphant refutation of the doc- trine of equivocal or spontaneous generation, which had maintained its place among the unquestioned credenda of the schools from the time of Aristotle, and the full establishment of the Harveian doctrine, omnia ex ovo. Sound principles of classification were likewise adopted, and improvements equally im- portant introduced into every department of natural science, forming a broad and stable foundation for the stately superstructure which has since been reared. How much Ray's individual exertions contributed to this effect, will in some measure appear from the brief view that has been given of his life and writ- ings. He enjoyed the advantage of devoting the greater part of his life without interruption to the studies that he loved so well ; and this circumstance, joined to his indefatigable industry and activity, enabled him to accomplish more than most other authors. There is scarcely any department of na- tural history which did not receive illustration from his pen ; he greatly extended the boundaries of many of them, and the systematic study of some may almost be said to have originated with him. His mind was equally fitted for the minute and labo- rious investigation of objects, and that nice percep- tion of their remote and general relations which can MEMOIE OF BAY. 67 only be attained by the exercise of the higher facul- ties. Hence he excelled both as a faithful describer of species and a framer of systems. In comparing the latter with the more celebrated method of Lin- naeus, it' ought to be borne in mind that the two systematists had, in a great measure, different ob- jects in view ; and that if our countryman was least successful, he failed in a more difficult object than that to which the other so admirably attained. Lin- naeus adopted an artificial system, of which the only recommendation is the ease with which it enables students to ascertain the names of plants. Desir- ous that this knowledge should not be obtained in an empirical manner, Ray attempted to follow the divisions of nature ; and if he could not trace the Ariadnean thread, he failed in a purpose which has not yet been fully accomplished. Linnaeus was deeply indebted to Ray's various writings, particu- larly in his arrangement of animals ; and a careful perusal of the Synopsis Quadrupedum, and the early editions of the System of Nature, will lead to the wrish that the obligation had been more warmly acknowledged. Had not Ray and his cotempora- ries performed the office of pioneers in opening a way for the illustrious Swede, the energies of his comprehensive mind might have been engrossed with the subordinate details of science, and his progress obstructed to that commanding elevation which he now occupies. Fully to appreciate Ray's merits, we must not 68 MEMOIR OF KAY. only take into account the vast increment of know- ledge which resulted to natural history from his la- bours, but also the discredit from which he rescued the study. Even the history of the higher animals, though bearing so directly on the interests of life, was held in little repute, while the lower tribes were regarded as too insignificant to merit or justify attention. This was particularly the case in rela- tion to insects and other " creeping things," the examination of which was considered as egregious trifling, and deserving of nothing but ridicule and contempt. To such an extent did this prejudice prevail, that on one occasion an attempt was made to set aside the will of a Lady Glanville, on the ground of lunacy, because she had shown a strong partiality for insects, and Ray had to appear on the day of trial to bear testimony to her sanity I By his means, however, even the most disreputable of these studies was placed in a proper light, and in- vested with the dignity of a philosophical pursuit ; and although it was not till a remotely subsequent period that many of them were cultivated with that zeal which their intrinsic interest is fitted to inspire, yet a feeling was produced in favour of all, when they were seen to form the favourite occupation of a mind which had asserted its superiority in the most approved walks of learning, and which did not disdain to exercise its matured faculties in contem- plating the lowest and most despised of nature's productions, even at a time when all earthly inte- MEMOIR OP RAT. C9 rests were beginning to lose their influence in the near anticipation of the most glorious manifestations of the Creator. His varied and useful labours have justly caused him to be regarded as the father of natural history in this country ; and his character is in every re- spect such as we should wish to belong to the indi- vidual enjoying that high distinction. His claims to the regard of posterity are not more founded on his intellectual capacity than on his moral ex- cellence. He maintained a steady and uncompro- mising adherence to his principles, at a time when vacillation and change were so common as almost to escape unnoticed and uncensured. From some conscientious scruples, which he shared in common with many of the wisest and most pious men of his time, he did not hesitate to sacrifice his views of preferment in the church, although his talents and learning, joined to the powerful influence of his nu- merous friends, might have justified him in aspiring to a considerable station. The benevolence of his disposition continually appears in the generosity of his praise, the tenderness of his censure, and solici- tude to promote the welfare of others. His modesty and self-abasement were so great that they transpire insensibly on all occasions ; and his affectionate and grateful feelings led him, as has been remarked, to fulfil the sacred duties of friendship even to his own prejudice, and to adorn the bust of his friend with wreaths which he himself might justly have assumed. 70 MEMOIR OF RAT. All these qualities were refined and exalted by the purest Christian feeling, and the union of the whole constitutes a character which procured the admira- tion of cotemporaries, and well deserves to be re- commended to the imitation of posterity. * * While the natural sciences are rapidly advancing in discovery, it is pleasing to find their most ardent cultiva- tors cherishing the recollection of this great man with such feelings as pupils entertain towards an aged and re- vered preceptor ; wondering at the ability with which he used the opportunities within his reach, and anxious that his memory should be honoured by the generations of after days. A few years since, some of the admirers of Ray in London proposed that his memory should be commemo- rated by some appropriate meeting. The proposal was enthusiastically received by the leading naturalists of the metropolis and its vicinity, and the 29th November 1828, the second centenary of his birth-day, was selected for the purpose of a public expression of the high estimation in which he was held by the lovers of every branch of na- tural history. One hundred and thirty of the most dis- tinguished cultivators and patrons of science gave a pub- lic dinner, at Free-masons' Hall, Davis Gilbert, Esq. pre- sident of the Royal Society, in the chair, and spent the evening admiring his genius, and anxious to use their best endeavours for the future commemoration of his piety and learning. For the particulars of this meeting, see Annals of Fhi- y^ vol. v. p. 140. ENTOMOLOGY. NATURAL HISTORY OF COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. *' Si vous parlez d'une pierre, d'une fourmi, d'un mou« cberon, d'une abeille, votre di scours est une espece de de- monstration de la puissance de celui qui les a forme'es; car la sagesse de Pouvrier se manifeste pour Tordinaire dans ce qui est le plus petit. Celui qui a e'tendu lea cieux, et qui a creus^ le lit de la mer, n'est point different de celui qui a percd 1'aiguillon d'une abeille, afin de donner passage a son venin." — St Basil, LYONNET'S TRANS. THE numerous beings comprehended under the name of Insect, offer to our regard so many inte- resting objects of contemplation and research, that their history has deservedly assumed a prominent place among the natural sciences. Although not to be compared with many other animals in direct utility to man, they are by no means destitute even of the interest produced by that consideration, 72 NATURAL HISTORY OF while they possess advantages as a subject of study and investigation, equal to almost any other branch of zoology. Such is the extent of the subject, and the variety of aspects in which it may be viewed, that minds of very different tastes and capacities may find congenial occupation in some one or other of its numerous details. The investigation of ge- neric and specific distinctions, which are often so faint and evanescent as almost to elude observation, accustoms the eye to habits of nice discrimination, — the relations which groups and families bear both to each other and to the different kingdoms of na- ture, lead to general views sufficient to exercise the faculties of the most gifted minds, — while the variety of form and structure which the species pre- sent, is the source of inexhaustible gratification to those who delight to trace the footsteps of the Cre- ator in his works. When to the consideration of their forms and habits we add the internal anatomy of insects, what a wide and fruitful field of enquiry is laid open ! The celebrated Lyonnet spent a consi- derable portion of his life in examining the structure of a single insect, and yet left much to be supplied by his successors to complete our knowledge even of that individual species. In the body of an insect not exceeding an inch in length, M. Straus has enume» rated 306 hard pieces entering into the composition of the outer envelope ; 494 muscles for putting these in motion ; 24 pair of nerves to animate them, di- vided into innumerable filets ; and 48 pair of tra- COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 73 chese, equally ramified and divided, to convey air and life into this inextricable tissue. This is a spectacle, says Cuvier, altogether transporting by its delicacy and regularity. Even to the fine assortment of its colours, every thing seems as if made on pur- pose to please the eye of man, which now perhaps looked upon it for the first time since the creation.* .—Each tribe of this extensive class of animals pos- sesses peculiar attributes deserving of our regard. The extreme beauty of the Lepidoptera or butter- flies,— the striking contrast they present in the dif- ferent stages of their existence, so remarkable as to have caused them to be regarded by a mystical phi- losophy as the types of the human soul released from its material encumbrance, — their habits and times of appearance, the one suggesting the purity of an ethereal nature, the other associating them in the mind of the observer with the beauty of external nature, and the genial influences of the seasons, — have alike contributed to render them objects of general favour. The absence of imposing forms and splendour of ornament among the Hymenoptera, is amply compensated by their interesting habits, arid beautiful adaptation of structure to the perfect fulfilment of those wonderful instincts which in every age have excited the admiration of mankind. Without possessing in equal perfection the beauty of the Lepidoptera, or the exquisite economy of the * Rapport sur PHistoire Naturelle. 74 NATURAL HISTORY OF hive-bee, the Coleoptera partake in no inconsider- able degree of the interest arising from both these sources, while they offer some claims on our atten- tion peculiar to themselves. In consequence of the compactness and solidity of their structure, and symmetrical perfection of their forms, the greater number of writers on ento- mology have been led to follow Linne, in assigning to the Coleoptera the precedence over the other tribes in their systematic classifications. The dis- tinctness of their insections and articulations, to- gether with the clearly defined figure of the organs of manducation, render them the most characteris- tic representatives of the class to which they be- long ; while certain relations of analogy which some of the species are thought to bear to the vertebrated tribes, seem to point out their relationship to a superior race of beings. They may be said to symbolize those higher animals which are most remarkable for the perfection of their organs, and which are therefore regarded as the types of their respective classes, such as the feline race among quadrupeds, and eagles among birds. These con- siderations, taken in connexion with the great size, singular forms, and brilliant colouring, of many of the species, as well as the ease with which they can be preserved in much of their living beauty, have long rendered them favourite subjects of study with those who have devoted their attention to an- nulose zoology. At the same time., the important COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 7^ functions which they perform in the economy ol nature, and the injurious consequences which not unfrequently result to mankind from their undue di- minution or increase, impart a greater degree of im- portance to their history than attaches to the gene- rality of the insect tribes. Coleopterous insects compose the first great sec- tion, or order as it is called, of the class of insects. They are readily distinguished from the other mem- bers of their class, by having the inferior wings co- vered and protected by a hard case or shell. This peculiarity of structure has suggested the name, which is composed of two Greek words, and signi- fies wings in a sheath (xoXso;, a sheath, and Triga, wings). The term was first used by Aristotle, and as the character to which it refers forms a very ob- vious mark of distinction, it has been almost univer- sally adopted by subsequent writers. In several in- stances, however, it fails to be an accurate defini- tion of the order, for there are some beetles without either wings or sheath, and many others in which the latter only is present. To the other characters more recently added, such as the transverse folding of the wings, and the straight sutural line down the middle of the wing-cases, separating them into two equal portions, there are likewise exceptions ; but these are too few and unimportant to invalidate ma- terially the general correctness of the definition. The insects to which these characters apply, con- stitute one of the most numerous orders of their 76 NATURAL HISTORY OP class. In this country alone, they amount, by the latest and most accurate census, to upwards of 3600, thus forming nearly a third part of our entire insect population. This is considerably more than double the number of phaenogamous or flowering plants in- digenous to Britain, and greatly exceeds the whole amount of our native vertebrate animals. When com- pared with the two other orders that are next to it in extent in this country, it will be found that the Cole- optera are nearly one half more numerous than the Lepidoptera, and that they stand much in the same relation to the Diptera or two-winged flies. Of the latter, indeed, all the species ascertained to inhabit Europe scarcely exceed the amount of British Cole- optera ; for the most accurate enumeration of the European Diptera which we possess makes them about 3760.* The native Coleoptera of Sweden, according to the enumeration of them given by Gyllenhal, in his admirable Insecta Suecica, are about 4700 in number. In advancing southwards, these insects increase in a ratio similar to what is observed in other departments of nature ; and in countries under the tropics, so redundant in every kind of animal life, they may be said absolutely to swarm. We are without sufficient data, however, from which to form an accurate estimate of their total amount. Some years since, the collection of * ©pstematigdje 'Bejecftretfrnng tier fce&annten €uro* ^toetflugeligen 3In0*fcten, toon 31* SX[1« 1818-1830. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 77 the Count de Jean at Paris, one of the most exten- sive that exists, contained no fewer than 20,000 species. Many others are no doubt to be found in different collections ; and when we take into account the discoveries daily made by the numerous culti- vators of this branch of zoology, and the extent and fertility of the countries with the insect productions of which we are wholly unacquainted, there seems reason to believe that it cannot be much short of 30,000— that is 10,000 above the estimate formed by Ray nearly a century and a half ago, as the pro- bable amount of the whole class of insects ! This order comprehends some of the largest as well as the most minute insects with which we are acquainted. Certain orthopterous species belonging to the genus Phasma surpass them in length, and several gigantic moths are of greater superficial ex- tent ; but in many beetles length of body is com- bined with a proportionate breadth and thickness, which renders them the most bulky and massive of their class. A fine specimen of Prionus giganteus measures nearly half a foot in length, the breadth is about two inches, and the expansion of the wings is nine inches. A handsome and scarce species of the same family (Prionus armillatus) is about five inches long and one inch and three quarters broad, and the antennas, which are very strong and rigid, are upwards of six inches in length. The Hercules beetle (Dynastes Hercules), and Scarabseus Actaeon, mea- sure respectively about four and a half inches in length 73 NATURAL HISTORY OF including the horns. The largest coleopterous insects inhabiting Britain are the Hydrous piceus, and the Stag-beetle (Lucanus cervus). The latter is nearly two inches in length, including the mandibles ; and the former is not much short of the same dimen- sions, besides being of considerably greater breadth. These may be regarded as the giants of this order of insects, occupying one extremity of the scale. At the opposite extremity may be placed some species of the genera Trichopteryx, Atomaria, and Agathidium, which are so minute as not to exceed one-eighth part of a line in length ;* or, to adopt an illustration sometimes employed, they are abso- lutely not bigger than the full stop that closes this period. The structure of these minute beings is perhaps even more calculated to excite our admiration than that of the larger animals. In the latter, most of the parts are of sufficient size to come within the direct cognisance of our senses, and there is no ap- parent discrepancy between their dimensions and the functions which they perform ; but when we re- flect that a mere animated point, almost invisible to the naked eye, possesses all the attributes which be- long to the largest of its race — that it is furnished with an external covering made up of many parts adjusted to each other with the nicest accuracy — that it is supplied with all the requisite organs of * A line is the twelfth part of a French inch. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 79 sense and motion, and has a nervous and respiratory system of greater complexity than many of the lar- ger animals — that the various processes of digestion, assimilation, and secretion, are continually going forward — that not a limb can be put in motion without calling into play a multitude of muscles — and that this atomic being is moreover endowed with instincts which regulate with almost unerring certainty all its habits and economy — we can scarce- ly fail to regard it as affording a more striking in- stance of consummate skill than if it had occupied a much larger space. The shapely limb, and lubricated joint, Within the small dimensions of a point, Muscle and nerve miraculously spun, His mighty work, who speaks and it is done ; The invisible in things scarce seen revealed, To whom an atom is an ample field. " To the eye of the naturalist," says Latreille, " the mass or volume of an object is a matter of little consequence. The wisdom of the CREATOR never appears more conspicuous than in the struc- ture of those minute beings which seem to conceal themselves from observation ; and Almighty Power is never more strikingly exhibited than in the con- centration of organs in such an atom. In giving life to this atom, and constructing in dimensions so minute so many organs susceptible of different sensations, my admiration of the Supreme Intelli- gence is much more heightened than by the con- 80 NATURAL HISTORY OF lemplation of the structure of the most gigan animals." If superiority in certain qualities must be conced- ed to some other tribes of insects, the Coleoptera certainly surpass them all, as well as the higher races of animals, in variety of form and singularity of structure. Among butterflies, the Hymmoptera, and two-winged flies, nearly as great a uniformity of outline prevails as in the case of birds and serpents. But there appears to be no general type of form ac- cording to which beetles have been modelled. They differ as widely among themselves in outward appear- ance, as separate classes of othei animated beings do from each other. Even the great deep, which has ever been regarded as the fertile mother of all mons- trous and all prodigious things, seldom produces an " odd fish" equal in eccentricity to some species of beetles. If we are less struck with the strange pro- portion of their parts, than with any unusual figure among the larger animals, it is on account of their small size, which is generally too inconsiderable to arrest our attention, and leads us to consider them in a great measure abstractedly from the idea of physical power with which we are accustomed to re- gard animated beings of large dimensions. But for this circumstance, they would excite the astonishment of the most careless observer, and lead us to fear lest they should realize the anticipations of the poet,— Their shape would make them, had they bulk and size More hideous foes than fancy can devise ; COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 81 With helmet-heads, and dragon-scales adorned, The mighty myriads, now securely scorned, Would mock the majesty of man's high birth, Despise his bulwarks, and unpeople earth. To those who have never had an opportunity of inspecting a well-stored cabinet of Coleoptera, or whose attention has never been drawn to the observ- ance of the living insects in their native haunts, it is not easy to convey an adequate conception of the variety of forms which they assume. An examina^ tion of the accompanying plates will afford a more satisfactory notion of this than can easily be con- veyed by description. The most common figure of trie outline of the body is oblong or oval ; fre- quently it is cylindrical or linear, that is, having the sides parallel with each other, sometimes orbicular, and occasionally almost square. These may be re- garded as the primary or dominating forms, but they are subject to an endless variety of modifications, and are variously blended with each other. The surface is commonly convex, and the under side rather flat, so that a transverse section forms a seg- ment of a circle ; sometimes, however, the upper side is depressed, and the under side somewhat convex. The length of the body usually exceeds the breadth, but in some instances the transverse diameter is longest. The surface is frequently ren- dered unequal by numerous elevations and depres- sions, which cause the creatures " to resemble so many pigmy Atlases bearing on their backs a mi- 82 NATURAL HISTORY OP crocosm, and presenting to the eye of the beholder no unapt imitation of the unequal surface of the earth, now horrid with mis-shapen rocks, ridges, and precipices, now swelling into hills and mountains, and now sinking into valleys, glens, and caves/'* But the singular appearance of the greater number is produced by the horrid array of horns, spines, and other projections with which they are furnished. Some of these appendages are so remarkable as to be wholly unparalleled in any other department of the animal kingdom, and we are often wholly at a loss to conjecture what purposes they were intended to serve. In some instances (Scarabtzus Syphax^ and several allied species) three pointed horns, nearly half the length of the body, project forwards from the thorax, one on each side, and the other just over the head. Another species of large size ( Scarabceus Actceori) has a long and powerful horn issuing from its head, curved backwards, and bifid at the point, and having a strong tooth on its upper side towards the base, while two other horns stand out from the tho- rax, one on each side. A middle-sized species, of a uniform reddish -brown colour (Scarabceus claviger), bears on the centre of its thorax a long stout horn, which is dilated in an angular manner at the tip, and curved forwards so as nearly to meet another of a slender subulate form arising from the crown * Introduction to Entomology, by the Rev. William Kirby and William Spence, Esq. vol. i. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 83 ot the head. One group (Lucanidcz) is distin- guished by the portentous length of their jaws, gar- nished with a formidable armature of angular pro- jections and pointed teeth, bearing some resem- blance to the branching antlers of some kinds of deer, on which account they have been named Stag-beetles. A second (Eusceles of Macleay) is so remarkable for the disproportionate length and thickness of the hin- der legs, that it has been regarded as the representa- tive of a quadruped of similar peculiarity of structure, and has therefore obtained the name of Kanguroo beetle. In an extensive section (Longicornes), of which many of the species are noted for elegance of form and agreeable markings, the antennae are cf . such extraordinary length as to equal in some in- stances four times that of the body ; and they are now and then singularly adorned with fascicles or tufts of long hair. Certain kinds, distributed throughout several different genera, and usually de- signated by the specific term longimanus, are fur- nished with anterior legs of unusual length, greatly exceeding, in relation to the size of the body, those of the Grallatores, or wading birds, and imparting a very grotesque aspect by their strange disproportion. Examples of similar anomalies everywhere present themselves in this Protean race of animals ; but these will suffice to show that Nature here Wantons as in her prime, and plays at Her virgin fancies. 84 NATURAL HISTORY OF The purposes which some of these peculiarities of structure were designed to serve are sufficiently apparent ; but in the greater number of cases we can scarcely form a conjecture as to their use. Much of the variety of form which these insects present, is no doubt the necessary result of their being destined to subserve so many different purposes in the economy of nature. The configuration of each individual spe- cies is that which adapts it best to fulfil the various ends of its being ; and this connection between figure and function is so strikingly displayed in the case of many insects with which we are well acquainted, that we are authorized to presume its existence when their habits are unknown to us. A more intimate acquaintance with these habits, would doubtless ex- plain the utility of many a remarkable form and fan- tastical assemblage of horns and prominences, which our present imperfect knowledge might lead us to regard as unnecessary or even cumbrous, and would enable us to appreciate more fully the wisdom — " wonderful in counsel and excellent in working"— that has presided over the organization of these lowly beings, and taught them to work its will. At the same time it may reasonably be supposed that use- fulness to the individual is not always the object in view : the production of a pleasing variety may have been as much the design of the creating mind in the present instance, as it appears to have been in giving a particular form and character to the leaves and foliage of different trees, although the functions COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 85 of many of these might, for aught we know, have been equally well performed had there been.no such marked dissimilarity. The colouring and variegation of coleopterous insects are not less remarkable than their forms. In the variety and beauty of their hues, they seem to combine the clearness and decision of tint pos- sessed by flowers, with the diversified markings of the feathered race, and the metallic splendour of the mineral kingdom. " In this tribe," says an author, determined that his language shall not fall short of his subject, " lavish nature sports gorge- ously in the mingled riches of indescribably reful- gent colours, proof against a continuance of the visual ray, which makes the eyelids dance, while the optic nerve aches at the splendour."* " Na- ture in her sportive mood," say Messrs Kirby and Spence, speaking, it is true, of insects in general, but all their observations apply to beetles, " when painting them, sometimes imitates the clouds of heaven ; at others, the meandering course of the rivers of the earth, or the undulations of their waters : many are veined like beautiful marbles ; others have the semblance of a robe of the finest net-work thrown over them : some she blazons with heraldic insignia, giving them to bear infields sable—- azure— vert — gules — argent and or, fesses — bars — bends — crosses — crescents — stars, and even ani- * Barbut's Gen. of Insects, p. 46. 86 KATUEAL HISTORY OF mals.* On many, taking her rule and compasses, she draws with precision mathematical figures 5 points, lines, angles, triangles,f squares, and circles." Some extensive groups are characterized by the pre- valence of certain hues, bestowed on them probably as a* means of concealment from enemies, by assi- milating them to the objects by which they are us- ually surrounded, or in subserviency to some par- ticular purpose in their economy. The prevailing colour among beetles of obscure haunts — such as burrow in the earth, or pass the greater part of their lives under stones (the Geodephagi of some modern systematic writers), as well as those destined to fa- cilitate the decomposition and dispersion of putres- cerit and excrementitious substances — is black or brown. The water-beetles (Dytiscidce) are almost uniformly brownish black, inclining to olive, and frequently variegated with streaks and spots of dull yellow. The rostrated beetles, or weevils ( Curcu- lionidce), present some of the most highly adorned examples of insect life ; and in them also a curious instance is observable of change in colour accom- panying dissimilarity of habit. Numerous kinds of these insects occur among loose earth and sand, or under stones, and these are almost invariably of sombre hues, and destitute of ornament : an exten- sive division of the same tribe inhabit trees and snrubs, and they are remarkable for displaying the * Ptinus imperialis^ Linn. f Trichius deltat Fab. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 6/ most vivid tints of green. As examples ot tins, the British genera Otiorhynchus and Phyllobius may be cited, and the foreign ones Brachycerm and Entimm* The elegant tribe ofCetonidce, which find their suste- nance on plants, and which are represented in this country by the Rose-chafer (Cetonia aurata), an avant-courrier of those " flying gems" that delight the eyes of the Entomologist in his progress south- ward— are generally of a fine green, often accompa- nied with a delicate schiller or play of colour, resem- bling the floating light on the surface of some pre- cious stones ; and they are sometimes spotted, or varie- gated with lines and bands contrasting strongly with the rest of the body. The Chrysomelidce — a term which signifies an apple of gold — are most com- monly of a pretty uniform golden-green, highly po- lished and lustrous, and streaked occasionally along the back with parallel lines of purple and blue; while the Coccinellidce, or Lady-birds, are never dis- tinguished by metallic splendour, but are prettily marked with round spots of black on a red or yellow ground, or with red spots on a ground of black. The species in which some of these fine colours are combined with a high degree of lustre, and di- versified markings, must evidently be objects of no mean beauty. An eye accustomed to the brilliant shades of green and purple that adorn many of the Buprestidae — the blue and coppery hues of the Eu- molpi — the varied delineations of the Cetonidae— and the warm but delicate tinting of the Ceramby- 88 NATURAL HISTORY OF cidae — will not frequently find other natural pro- ductions on which it can repose with greater plea- sure. Such indeed is the splendour of some kinds, that the wing-cases and other parts are often worn as ornaments instead of precious stones. " A pe- culiar and scarce night-fly," says a writer on Japan, speaking of a species of beetle, " is of such incom- parable beauty that it is kept by the ladies among their curiosities, and has given rise to the following fable : They say that all the other night-flies, owing to the unparalleled beauty of this little creature, fall in love with it, and in order to get rid of their importunities, it maliciously bids them (for a trial of their constancy) to go and fetch fire. The blind lovers scruple not to obey commands, and flying to the next fire or candle, they never fail to burn them- selves."* Notwithstanding the beauty which many tropical species retain when brought to this country, and even after they have been preserved for many years in our cabinets, it cannot be supposed to equal that of their living state. In that condition only can there be a full development of their finer and more evanescent shades of colour — while their po- lished surfaces must be of dazzling brilliancy when seen under the light of a tropical sun, in angles con- tinually varying with the motion of the animals, which are thus rendered no unfit associates of the Lories, Creepers, and other " birds of gorgeous plu- * Kempfer's History of Japan. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. mery," which people the gay parterres of a landscape, and embellish them With their rich restless wings, that gleam Variously in the crimson beam Of the warm west — as if inlaid With brilliants from the mine, or made Of rainbows. These insects occur in almost every country capable of supporting animal life. Even the un- genial sun of Greenland and Iceland awakes to a short and precarious existence a few small species, which endure, or rather escape from, the rigours of an arctic winter, by a kind of hybernation partly analogous to that of some vertebral animals. In the higher latitudes, however, of Melville Island and Winter Harbour, no coleopterous insect has been observed ; and even the pestilent mosquito, which spreads over almost the entire surface of the habita- ble globe, extracting its nutriment equally from the tropical Indian and the greasy hide of the Lapland- er, appears unable to encounter the icy atmosphere of these hyperborean lands. It may indeed excite surprise that creatures of so fragile a nature should be found at all in such countries as those just mentioned ; but it must be borne in mind, that they not only pass certain periods in the pupa or torpid state, but are usually, while in that condition, deeply buried in the earth. " What they chiefly require," Mr Macleay observes, " is the presence of heat during some period of their existence ; and the 90 NATURAL HISTORY OF greater, within certain limits, is the heat, tne more active will be their vital principle. On the Ameri- can continent, the extremes of heat and cold in the course of the year are, as is well known, incompa- rably greater than in places of the same latitude in Europe. We may therefore readily conceive how particular families of insects will inhabit a wider range of latitude in the former country than in the latter. We also see how insects may swarm in the very coldest climates, such as Lapland and Spitz- bergen, where the short summer can boast of ex- traordinary rises in the thermometer ; because the energy of the vital principle in such animals is, within certain limits, proportionate to the degree of warmth to which they may be subjected, and escapes in a manner the severe action of cold."* As heat is the principal agent in giving impulse and vigour to organic life, it will be found that these insects undergo as great a change under the in- creasing temperature of the earth and atmosphere, on approaching the equator, as is well known to take place in vegetables and the larger animals. Their numbers are prodigiously augumented, and they acquire considerable momentum from the great size of many of the species. The latter, too, are contin- ually varying even under the same parallel of lati- tude, so that countries similar to each other in soil, temperature, and all other circumstances which * Horse Entoraologicae, part i. p. 45. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 91 might be supposed to have an influence on animals, present the most striking differences in their insect productions. Latreille has observed that the coun- tries most fruitful in insects, are those in which vegetation is richest and most speedily renewed. South America, which is so prolific in all rare and beauteous things that fly Through the pure element, furnishes a greater number of Coleoptera than any other country. It comprehends every variety of soil and climate, and offers all the other conditions that tend to the increase of organized beings. Its intertropical regions are watered by many sea-like rivers, and clothed with a luxuriance of vegetation scarcely equalled elsewhere ; its mountain ranges, rising far above the limit of perpetual snow, are the sources of endless variation in climate and temper- ature ; its elevated plateaus enjoy the temperate air of a northern latitude, while the climates of Spain, Italy, and France, and even of Norway and Sweden, are successively presented to us in our progress to- wards the Straits of Magalhaens. Extensive wastes of arid sand likewise occur, similar to those that cover so large a portion of the African continent ; and the Pampas or Llanos (levels) stretching in a dead flat, like the illimitable expanse of the ocean, over an extent of country equal to a fourth part of Europe, and so far removed, in their untrodden so- litudes, from the turmoil of ordinary scenes, that by the earliest European visitors they were styled. 92 NATURAL HISTORY OF in the play of imagination, the regions of supreme repose — form a feature in the physiognomy of the country peculiar to this continent. " Forests, the growth of thousands of years," says Humboldt in his " Tableau de la Nature," "of an impenetrable thick- ness, fill the humid country situate between the Oronoco and the Amazons. Immense masses of lead-coloured granite narrow the foamy beds of the rivers. The mountains and woods resound unceas- ingly with the roar of cataracts, the growl of the jaguar, or the dull howl of the red monkey, which foretells the approach of rain. In those places where . the lowness of the waters leaves a sandy beach uncovered, with open mouth, but motionless as a rock, lies a crocodile, whose scaly body is co- vered with birds. The tiger-marked boa, his tail fixed to the trunk of a tree, his body rolled upon itself, sure of his prey, lies in ambush on the bank ; suddenly he uncoils to seize the young bull which is just passing." Brazil has always been regarded as the most fer- tile region of South America, and that portion of it lying between the twelfth and twenty-fifth degrees of south latitude may be considered the richest in the world in Coleoptera. Mexico perhaps is next to it, for that country is much more prolific than Guiana, so often referred to by the older Ento- mologists, who became acquainted with its produc- tions through the early French and Dutch settlers, who have always been zealous collectors and culti- COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 93 vators of natural history. In the old world, the countries that afford the greatest number of these insects, are certain regions on the western coast of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, Java, and the other large islands of the Indian Archipelago. New Hol- land possesses many remarkable kinds, and the island of Madagascar offers a rich and almost unexplored field to the industry of some future collector. Some interesting sketches of the entomological aspect of Brazil, and other intertropical regions of America, are given by a recent French writer. According to his account, the insects of these coun- tries in a great measure disappear during the months of May, June, July, and August, probably because that is the dry season, when vegetation is compara- tively scorched and sapless, and therefore yields im- perfect nourishment. But towards the middle of Sep- tember, when the first showers begin to fall, all na- ture seems to issue from its repose. Vegetation ac- quires a tint of livelier green, the greater number of plants renew their leaves, and insects begin to appear. In October the rains become more frequent, and in- sects are seen in greater numbers ; but it is not till the middle of that month, when the rainy season definite- ly sets in, that all the families seem, as it were, to undergo a sudden development; and this general im- pulsion, which all nature receives, goes on increasing till the middle of January, when it reaches its great- est height. The forests then present a scene of life and motion, of which our European woods can give 9 1 NATURAL HISTOEY OP no idea. During one part of the day nothing »s heard but a loud and uninterrupted rustling or humming noise, in which the harsh and deafening 'notes of the Cicadae predominate.* One cannot move a step nor touch a leaf without seeing insects take flight from all quarters. The herbaceous plants are literally covered with brilliant beetles ; and the slender twigs of the mimosa, on which they live in society, appear to bend under the weight of dia- mond-beetles (Entimus imperialis and nobilis). This teeming exuberance is most striking in the morning, before the sun has evaporated the dews of the night. Towards the approach of mid-day the heat becomes insupportable, and all animated nature sinks into repose. The din ceases, and insects, as well as other animals, seek the freshness of the shade, from which they do not again emerge till the approach of night has cooled the thirsty air. To the species of the morning then succeed a multitude of others, many of which, and these too of the largest and most remarkable kinds, are seldom ob- served but in the evening twilight. Then also the night-eyed insect tribes Wake to their portion of the circling hours. * " Captain Hancock informs me that the Brazilian Cicadae sing so loud as to be heard to the .distance of a mile. This is as if a man of ordinary stature, supposing his powers of voice increased in the ratio of his size, could be heard all over the world. So that Stentor himself be- comes a mute when compared with these insects." — Kirby and Spencers Intro, to JEntom. ii. 404. COLEOPTEKOUS INSECTS. 95 The Lampyridce, issuing in myriads from their re- treats, diffuse their mild effulgence over the plants and shrubs, which they often cover with their num- bers ; and the luminous Elateridce dart about in all directions, filling the air with their radiant tracks. This natural illumination does not cease till the ap- proach of day. Although these insects, as has been stated, gene- rally increase in number as we proceed from the poles to the equator, yet there are some exceptions to this rule. Among these are the aquatic beetles (Dytiscidce), which are most numerous in the tem- perate zone, and also of larger size than within the tropics. At the same time there is scarcely any tribe of Coleoptera more widely distributed than this ; a circumstance no doubt attributable to the equable temperature of the medium in which they live, which exempts them in a great degree from the modifying influence of climate. Of this a fami- liar proof is afforded by our native Colymbetes, which continue pretty active throughout the winter, when other insects are in a state of torpidity. We have occasionally seen them swimming with alacrity in the waters of a pond when the surface was covered with a thick coating of ice. The same circumstance that accounts for their extensive diffusion, may there- fore be regarded as the cause of their not increas- ing in tropical regions. In the latter countries, be- sides, every pool or stagnant water, such as these creatures love to frequent, is dried up during one 96 NATURAL HISTORY OP season of the year by a rapid evaporation, and the smaller streams at one time undergo the same tate, and at another assume the character of torrents. As providence in the creation of insects seems partly to have designed them for removing various nuisances and superfluous materials from the face of nature, their distribution is regulated accordingly, and their numbers proportioned to the work assigned to them. In temperate climates, for example, where the dead carcasses of animals decompose but slowly, our senses would be continually offended, and our health liable to injury, from the unwholesome mias- mata that exhales from them, unless some provision were made to accelerate their removal. We ac- cordingly find a profusion of carcass-eating beetles — Necrophori, Silphidce, &c — which speedily as- semble from all quarters, round a dead body, led by the emanation of the tainted air, and in a short pe- riod it is either buried or consumed. In several extensive countries of South America, however, where the extreme dryness of the air and heat of the sun cause the animal juices to evaporate with such rapidity that a dead body can scarcely be said to putrefy, but is converted into a substance so com- pletely desiccated, that travellers across the woodless pampas sometimes make their fire of a dead horse, such insects would scarcely be required, and ac- cordingly few if any have been observed. In this country, and others under similar latitudes, nature has devolved the task of removing excrementitious COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS 97 nuisances chiefly on a numerous host of small bee- ties belonging to the genera Aphodius, Onthopha- pus, Aleochara, &c. Some kinds (such as the Geo- trupidcB) convey the dung to the bottom of holes dug to receive it, and make it a receptacle for their eggs ; others consume it, and by perforating the mass in all directions, make it pervious to the air and wind, by which it is soon dried and scattered, leaving the herb- age on which it rested to spring with renewed vigour. In warmer countries, where the task becomes more onerous, from the increased number of large mam- miferous animals, the species mentioned are super- seded or assisted by others more powerfully gifted-, such as the gigantic Scarabaei, the Phansei, and Ateuchi, whose singular habits we shall afterwards describe. New Holland, on the contrary, being destitute of large animals, furnishes scarcely any coprophagous insects, except a few scarce species, most of which are referable to a single genus. As the different continents produce various kinds of the higher animals not occurring in other regions, tney are in like manner distinguished by possessing peculiar species of insects. Many of these will be afterwards particularized. The geographical distri- oution of the Coleoptera is still so imperfectly un- derstood, that the attempts which have been made to illustrate it consist not so much in an exposition of the general principles by which it is regulated, as in a detail of insulated facts and observations. Tnese it will be more satisfactory to give herealter 98 NATURAL HISTORY OF as a part of the general history of particular groups and species ; and we shall conclude these introduc- tory observations by giving an account of the exter- nal organs of coleopterous insects, in order that trie descriptions and generic characters in the subse- quent part of the volume may be more readily un- derstood. The most characteristic feature of the coleopte- rous order, and from which it obtains its name, has been already mentioned, viz. the horny consistence of the upper pair of wings. The whole body is likewise covered with an integument or crust of a similar nature, more or less rigid, which has been found, on analysis, to consist chiefly of a peculiar principle named chitine. This corneous envelope defends the internal organs, and executes a function analogous to that of the bones in vertebrate animals, by supporting the softer parts, and affording points of attachment to the muscles. It is one of the distinguishing attributes of' the class of insects, that their bodies are inserted or di- vided into many jointed parts, a mode of structure which is more or less obvious in all their different states of existence. These segments are more re- gular and distinct in the larvae of the Coleoptera than after the insects have undergone their final transformation, by which some of the rings become very much enlarged, while others suffer a corre- sponding diminution. But in every perfect i COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 99 there are three obvious divisions, consisting of the head, thorax, and abdomen. The head appears as a single piece, without any obvious suture or division, and is generally or a harder substance than the rest of the body. Its form is most commonly triangular with the angles somewhat rounded, frequently it is orbicular, and in a numerous and important tribe {CurculwnidATUEAL HISTORY OF there is only one palpus attached to each blade of the maxillae. These organs generally consist of four joints, of which the terminal one is remarkable for the variety of forms which it assumes in different insects, affording valuable characters for distinguish- ing genera. When an internal palpus is present, it is usually formed of two slender articulations. The palpi are susceptible of rapid and extended motion, and are sometimes observed in a state of intense vibration, similar to the antennas of Ichneu- mons, and other Hymenoptera, when exploring a decayed trunk to discover a proper nidus for the reception of their eggs. They are supposed to con- stitute one of the principal organs of touch. That they perform this function is rendered extremely probable by their structure, which is well adapted, by its peculiar pliancy, to the examination of the objects with which they come in contact. The joints into which they are divided likewise favour this explanation of their use, since they seem to present some analogy to the articulated extremi- ties which form the principal seat of the sense of touch in the higher animals. It is at the same time probable that these organs are subservient to other purposes. As the mouth is covered above by the labrum or upper lip, so it is closed beneath by the under lip or labium. This part is situate between the max- illae, and is composed, as it were, of two portions joined together by their inner edges. The part COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 10.5 immediately behind it, which may be considered as forming its base, is named the chin (mentum). This piece is usually transverse, or broader than long, and is in most instances sinuated or notched in the middle of its anterior edge, with an acute tooth in the centre of the notch, which is sometimes bi- fid. From each side of the labium, and frequently attached to its lateral margin, there projects an ar~ ticulated feeler, similar to those borne by the max- illae. These are called the labial palpi. They ge- nerally consist of three moveable articulations, at- tached to a fourth which is adherent and forms a support to the others. They seldom equal the ex- ternal maxillary palpi in length, and the terminal joint does not exhibit such a variety of form, being most commonly somewhat clavate, or nearly of equal breadth throughout its whole length. The most conspicuous appendages of the head are two jointed organs, which stand out like horns from the forehead, and are named antenna. These never exceed two in number in genuine insects, and are situated anterior to and rather beneath the re- gion cf the eyes : occasionally they are placed close to the margin of the eyes, and in some instances the latter have a sinuosity for their reception, and par- tially encompass their base. They are generally composed of eleven obconical or tubujm^joints, lia- ble to great variation in their relative proportions. Occasionally, however, the joints do not exceed 104 NATURAL HISTORY OF nine or ten, and in some cases, instead of being conical, they are globose and somewhat remote from each other, being connected by a slender filament, so that they bear no unapt resemblance to a series of beads rather loosely strung. The ordinary length may be stated to be about half that of the body, but they very often fall short of these dimensions, and in many insects they are not longer than the head. On the other hand, they often equal or surpass the length of the insect, and in the Capricorn-beetles, a tribe distinguished by the length and delicate structure of these members, they are sometimes more than four times as long as the body. Al- though of considerable importance in the systematic arrangement of insects, the development of the an- tennae does not seem subjected to any very general or well-established rules, and is therefore of less value than certain other parts of structure. For example, we frequently find a considerable differ- ence to exist in the form of the antennae among species in other respects intimately allied ; and even between the sexes of the same species a great dis- parity of size and structure is observable. When a difference exists, those of the male are more fully developed than those of the female. The antennae are obviously of the first importance in the economy of insects, but their primary use has not been fully ascertained. It seems to be ge- nerally admitted that in many tribes they exercise COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 105 a function analogous to that of touch, being em- ployed in exploring the depth of crevices, and in ascertaining by contact the nature of any opposing object. But as their extreme shortness in two- winged flies (Dipterci), and some other insects, does not accord with that usage, they are likewise sup- posed to be the seat of a particular sense. Proceed- ing on the assumption that all the organs of sensa- tion found in the higher animals have their analogues in insects, some observers maintain that tfl-e antennae represent the ears, and that although th«?y may not directly convey the vibrations of sound Vo the sen- sorium, their primary function is something related to hearing. Others again suppose that they are the media through which the sense of smell is effected, but this explanation of their use is disproved by Huberts observations on Bees, which show that the sense of smell, at least in these hymenopterous spe- cies, is placed within the cavity of the mouth. The appendages of the head arid mouth wIVch have just been described, are represented in their natural position by the following figures, which we have taken the liberty to copy from Griffith's edition of Cuvier's Animal Kingdom: a (fig. 1) is the la- brum or upper lip ; b the mandibles ; c the exter- nal maxillary palpi ; d the labial palpi ; e the an- tennae ; f (fig. 2) the labium or under lip ; g the mentum, with a triangular tooth in the centre of its notch ; h the internal maxillary palpi ; i the max- illae, produced into an acute arcuate lobe. ion NATURAL HISTORY OF Ffr.2. The next part of a coleopterous insect which re- quires some notice is the thorax, which it will suf- rice for our present purpose to describe as a single principal portion, intermediate between the head and abdomen. It is the seat of all the organs of motion, and is usually strong and muscular, as it forms the chief support of all the other parts of the body. It is generally wider than the head and nar- rower than the abdomen. The form of the upper and exposed portion is very variable : in an exten- sive tribe of beetles it is more or less heart-shaped, COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 107 truncated before and behind, with a longitudinal groove down the middle. In other instances it is somewhat square, and occasionally it is nearly or- bicular. The inferior portion of the thorax is com- posed of a single piece named the sternum, or breast- bone. It is much developed in certain tribes, par- ticularly water-beetles (Dytisridce), and in the beau- tiful species which constitute the genus Buprestis. Of the hinder portion of the thorax, the only part seen from above is a small piece, commonly of a triangular form, with its point projecting backwards and interposed between the suture, of the elytra at the base. This piece is termed the scutellum. It exists in a more or less obvious form in nearly all beetles, and although usually minute, it is sometimes so large (as in the genus Macraspis) as to occupy a considerable portion of the dorsal area. The ap- pendages of the thorax are the instruments of mo- tion, the wings and legs, on which it is necessary to bestow a brief consideration. The true organs of flight in the Coleoptera are two membranous and transparent wings, jointed upon the upper and hinder portion of the thorax. They are generally very ample, and are extended by means of a few strong nervures which run in a longitudinal direction, and throw off a few lateral branchlets. When in a state of repose they are transversely folded, and in most cases completely covered by the first or upper pair of wings. The latter, as has been already stated, are of a hard or 108 NATURAL HISTORY 0¥ horny substance, similar to the crustaceous envelope of the head and thorax, and in the language or en- tomology are named elytra or wing-cases. These organs are likewise articulated to the thorax, and when at rest lie along the back of the abdomen, in the middle of which their internal edges meet and form a straight longitudinal line or suture. At this point of junction the wing-cases are sometimes sol- dered together, and form a single undivided piece, which completely incases tne abdomen. In such instances the inferior wings are wanting, or exist in a very rudimentary condition, and the species are of course incapable of flight. The elytra usually cover the whole upper surface of the abdomen, which, being sufficiently protected by their means. is rather of a soft consistence ; in numerous ex- amples, however, they cover only a small portion at its base, in which case the exposed surface is equally rigid with the rest of the body. Without some protection similar to that afforded by the elytra, tne inferior wings would be continually liable to injury, as they are but little adapted by their delicate cex- ture to resist the attrition to which they are so often exposed by the haunts ot the species, many of which live among loose earth and under stones. The wing- cases likewise serve to protect the stigmatic open- ings, placed along the sides of the abdomen, by which air is introduced for the purposes of respira- tion ; and it is probable that they assist materially 40 the act of flight, by presenting a broad and cou- COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS, 109 cave surface to the air, and maintaining the body in a proper equilibrium. The aerial movements of these insects are nor, however, in general performed with that power and ease of evolution which are so remarkable in biras, and even in certain other tribes of their own class. In the larger kinds especially, the weight of the body seems somewhat disproportionate to the size and motive apparatus of the wings, and their flignt is therefore heavy and laborious, and seldom sus- tained for any considerable time. They rise into the air but slowly, and although their motion soon be- comes rather rapid and headlong, the frequency with which they strike against any object that happens to come within the line of their flight, shows them to be incapable of exerting that degree of muscular energy necessary to check suddenly the impulse they have received, or speedily change its direction. It is probably owing to this cause that they are so often seen to come in contact with other objects, rather than deficiency of sight, to which it is ascribed in the saying, " blind as a beetle." Olivier asserts that no coleopterous insect can fly against the wind, and it is probable that the affirmation is correct, at least in relation to the majority, and when the wind is so high as to offer much resistance. Many of the smaller beetles, however, and those whose habits render a sustained flight necessary (such as the tree- chafers, Melolonthce, &c.), possess considerable power of wing. During a warm day in spring the air ig 1 10 NATURAL HISTORY OF filled with StaphytinidcE) Spharidiidce, and other minute beetles, which flit about in the sunshine with an ease and velocity which sufficiently indicate the perfect aptitude of their structure for such an exer- cise. In beetles, as well as in all other insects properly so called, there are six legs, each of which may be considered as composed of four principal pieces, viz. the coxa or haunch a, the thigh &, the tibia or shank c, and the tarsus or foot the anterior ti- biae have a deep notch on the inner side towards the apex, above which there is placed a strong moveable spine, which admits of being pressed down across the opening, and thus secures any object that may happen to be within it. A scarce British beetle, found on the coast of Norfolk, and on the shores of the Frith of Forth near Portobello ( Cillenwn laterale)y &hows an arrangement of this kind ; and it is rendered still more efficient by the addition of two small spines on the side of the notch opposite to the moveable spine, which receive the latter between them when it closes, and prevent it f-om being twisted in a lateral direction (fig. 1 of the 112 NATURAL HISTORY OF following cut). A similar structure is observable in the anterior legs of the common Blister-beetle ; but in this instance the notch is in the basal joint of the tarsus, and is closed by a strong conical spine aris- ing from the interior angle of the tibiae (fig. 2). This apparatus is confined to the male, and, ac- cording to the observations of M. Victor Audouin, it is employed to lay hold of the antennae of the fe- male, which it effectually secures. Fig. 1. Fig. 2. To answer a similar purpose, the tarsi of many male carabideous insects are considerably dilated, and clothed with hair in such a manner that they act as suckers. In the males of the large water- beetles especially, (genus Dytiscus), there is a singu- lar and elaborate apparatus of this kind, the exami- nation of which, to use the words of Messrs Kirby and Spence, will almost compel the most inattentive observer to glorify the wisdom and skill of the ALL- FATHER, so conspicuously manifested in the forma- tion of these complex organs. The three first joints COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 113 of the anterior tarsi are dilated so as to form a c.r- cuiar 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 114 NATURAL HISTORY OP to give a historical and descriptive account of th» leading groups and most remarkable species belong- ing to this extensive and important tribe of insects. The first division of the Coleoptera includes all the kinds which have five joints in each tarsus, on which account it is named PENTAMERA, a term derived from two Greek words, civra, Jive* and /xi£o;, a part or joint The species which most systematic writers place at the head of the coleopterous order, constituted the Linnaean genus CICINDELA, a term which was anciently applied to various destructive insects, as well as to those possessing luminous properties. This precedence is assigned to them owing to a certain perfection and development of structure, by which they are fitted for a mode of life pre-eminently car- nivorous. The legs are long and slender to enable them to pursue their prey with rapidity, the eyes glo- bose and remarkably prominent, and all the organs employed for the purposes of prehension and masti- cation of the most efficient kind. Of these the man- dibles are most conspicuous, as they project from the head, and are garnished with long and powerful teeth. The same circumstance is observable in these COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 115 atures that has been sometimes noticed in the gher animals, that the most blood-thirsty propen- sities are often combined with elegance of form and the highest beauty of colouring. They are adorned with the most beautiful tints of green and blue, with coppery or golden reflections, and the majority are variegated with spots and streaks of yellow. Their rapacity and agile movements have procured for them the name of Tiger-beetles. They prey indis- criminately on other insects, and few of the smaller kinds are capable of eluding or resisting their attack. The larvae are equally voracious with the perfect insect, but their locomotive organs being too im- perfect to enable them to attempt an open war, they have recourse to stratagem. In that early condition the body is long, white, and cylindrical, furnished with six scaly feet of a brown colour, and having two strong fleshy tubercles, like horns, rising from the back. It is entirely of a soft consistence, except the head, which is covered with a large rounded plate, and armed with two large jaws. These grubs dig cylindrical holes in the sandy soil where they love to reside, and lie in ambush at the entrance, the opening of which is completely closed by the broad scaly head. As the excavation is nearly per- pendicular at its mouth, the grub would have diffi- culty in retaining its position, were it not for the dorsal spines formerly mentioned, by which it sus- pends itself to the side of its dwelling. When lying in wait in this position, the jaws are expanded, and 116 NATURAL HISTOR7 OF ready to seize any unwary insect that comes within reach ; sometimes it makes a sudden dart if the ob- ject is at some distance, and immediately retreats to the interior of its den. Their voracity is not satisfied with other insects, but extends to their own species ; and when two individuals form their holes in the immediate neighbourhood of each other, the stronger devours the weaker, that there may be no interference with his own pursuits. When about to change their skins or be converted into nymphs, they retire to the bottom of their holes, having pre- viously sealed up the entrance. The perfect insects are found in the spring and summer months, usually in sandy fields exposed to the sun. They seem rather partial to heaths, and certain kinds are found only in the vicinity of the sea. In its present restricted form the genus contains upwards of 200 species, only six or seven of which occur in Britain. The most common throughout the northern parts of Europe is C. campestris, one of the most beautiful of our indigenous insects. It is of a fine green colour, glossed with coppery-red, and having five yellowish spots on the margin of each elytron, and another towards the middle. It is distributed over the whole island, but is rather local in Scotland. A beautiful species representing this genus is the . /7/7/////Y// auruLe*tita>. 3 . Procerus* Tauricu,?. . ,///////// ,•/<•/.'('//////•• ///i/sj,. 4. Ctu^abus hisp'Uiii COLEOPTEROUS «? OF THE r UNIVERSITY CICINDELA PLATE I. FIG. 1. Fabricius, Syst. Eleuth. p. 239, No. 38 — Dejean, Spec. Ge> 7ier. vol. i. p. 46. The ordinary length of this insect is about seven lines and a half. The upper lip, which projects ver^ little, is yellow, somewhat dusky at the base ana sides. The mandibles are deep black, and marked with a yellowish spot at the base. The palpi and four lowest joints of the antennae are greenish bronze, occasionally changing into blue ; the re- maining joints of the latter are dull black. The head is striated between the eyes, that is, marked with slightly impressed longitudinal lines, and of a fine green colour variegated with blue. The thorax is narrow, greenish blue, with two large patches of golden green. The elytra are duller than the other parts of the body, the colour bluish green, glossed with golden yellow at the base and margins, and each marked with four spots of yellowish white, of which that next the shoulder is very minute, and the third somewhat crescent-shaped. The under side of the body and legs are variegated with blue and green, and of a very brilliant lustre. This species inhabit? Java, and other Asiatic islands. It likewise occurs in China ; and the individual figured was found so far to the west as the British possessions in India- 118 NATURAL HISTORY OF The tribe which next ^resents itself to our notice is of very great extent, including a vast assemblage of species which differ considerably from each other in appearance and habit. They are named CARABICI by modern authors, — a term which corresponds to the old and comprehensive genus Carabus of Linne. They are readily distinguished from the preceding tribe by the structure of the lower jaws, which ter- minate simply in a hook without any articulation. The form of the typical or characteristic kinds is handsome ; and although the prevailing hue is ob- scure, not a few of them are ornamented with colours of great brilliancy. The head is usually somewhat triangular, and borne horizontally or slight- ly inclined ; the thorax more or less heart-shaped and truncated, with a longitudinal impressed line in the middle ; and the abdomen is long and oval, hav- ing a considerable degree of convexity both above and below. The legs are generally long and power- ful, and most of the species run with great rapidity ; but few of them fly well, and no inconsiderable num- ber are entirely destitute of wings. The organs of the mouth are very fully developed, demonstrating a decidedly carnivorous disposition ; but the mandi- bles are never furnished with such prominent teeth as those of the Tiger-beetles. Many of these insects are characterized by having the hinder extremity of the elytra truncated or cut across ; and they seldom completely cover the ab- domen, but leave a small portion of its apex exposed. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 119 Such as exhibit a formation of this kind constitute the section TRUNCATIPENNES. Some of the species have attracted much attention in consequence of a very singular means they employ to repel the at- tacks of their assailants. The majority of carabide- ous insects secrete an acrid and caustic fluid, which, when irritated, they discharge with considerable force. But in the kinds alluded to (belonging chiefly to the genus Brachinus), the fluid is so vo- latile, that when it is propelled by the insect it im- mediately evaporates with a detonating sound, so that the discharge seems to consist of blue smoke, which is of a peculiarly disagreeable and penetrat- ing odour. These bombardiers, as they are named by the French, can fire a considerable number of volleys before their ammunition is exhausted. The largest kinds inhabit tropical and other warm coun- tries ; but a few extend pretty far to the north, there being several indigenous to France and the south of England. To the section with truncated elytra belongs also the genus ANTHIA (a name originally applied by Aristotle to a kind of fish), which, however, does not well exemplify the distinctive feature of this subdivision, as the elytra are sinuated rather than truncated at the extremity. It is known by having the terminal joint of the external palpi somewhat cylindrical and truncated, or in the shape of a re- versed cone ; by the want of a tooth in the notch of the mentum ; and by the elongate-ovate form of 120 NATURAL HISTORY OF the elytra. The species are confined to certain dis- tricts of Asia, and the African continent. Even the southern shores of Europe, of which the vege- table and animal productions become strongly assi- milated to those of Africa, have not hitherto afford- ed any examples. They delight in an arid and sandy soil, in which they form shallow excavations, and lie in wait for their prey. In manners, and even in the figure of their bodies, they bear a greater resemblance to the beetle named Broscus cephalotes, found abundantly on the sandy shores of the sea in many places both in England and Scotland, than to any other British insect. They partake of the form which prevails among beetles accustomed to burrow in the soil, and which is best exemplified in the Scarites and Clivinae, or mole-beetles, as they are sometimes called, which live chiefly beneath the ground. The head is very thick and strong, fitted to make its way through a resisting medium, and the thorax is attached to the abdomen by a narrow neck-like portion, which admits of the anterior part of the body being easily turned in a lateral direc- tion, and therefore answers the same purposes as the flexibility of the vertebral column in moles and other burrowing quadrupeds. The hinder part of the body is considerably wider than the anterior, a circumstance never observed in burrowing beetles properly so called, as it would materially impede the insect's progress through its cylindrical excavations. The species figured is COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 121 ANTHIA DECEMGUTTATA. PLATE I. FIG. 2. ) Sytf. Eleuth. p. 221 — Carabus decemguttatus, Oliv. iii. 35, pi. 23, No. 16. The general colour of this species is dull black. The eyes are brown, and the antennae incline to the same colour, but the four lowest joints are more or less thickly covered with whitish down on the under side. On each side of the thorax anteriorly there is a small white spot. The elytra are marked with a few deep grooves, which are pretty densely clothed with whitish down ; this, however, is frequently rubbed off, and in the bottom of each groove there appear two rows of small impressed points, and a longitudinal ridge between them. Each elytron has five spots of white down, but some of these are often obliterated (as in the example figured). The un- der side of the body and legs are of a more shining black than the other parts, and the thighs are some- times brown. This insect varies greatly in size, colour, and even in the relative proportion of its parts, and it has in consequence been described under several different names. It is found in the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope, where it appears to be very common. The genus CARABUS properly so called is distin- guished by having the upper lip simply notched or 122 NATURAL HISTORY OF bilobed, by the tooth in the middle of the mentum being entire at its apex, and by the joints of the anterior tarsi being dilated in the males. The an- tennae are nearly filiform, or become gradually some- what more slender towards the outer extremity. The external palpi terminate in a joint considerably wider than the others, and forming a kind of trian- gle. The thorax is heart-shaped and truncated, the mandibles have a single tooth at their base, and the wings are not adapted for flight. In a few very large and remarkable European species the anterior tarsi have been found to present no appreciable dif- ference in the two sexes, and these have accordingly been formed into a distinct genus under the name of PROCERUS. The latter are among the largest carabideous insects with which we are acquainted. They are of a uniform black colour on the under parts of the body, but tinged with green or blue above. They seem chiefly to inhabit the moun- tainous districts of the eastern and southern parts of Europe, the Caucasus, and Asia Minor. The species represented is PROCERUS TAURICUS. PLATE I. FIG. 3. Carabus Tauricus, Pallas — Carabus scabrosus, Fisher Entomographie de la Rustic. This fine insect is little short of two inches in COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 123 length. The colour of the upper surface is a fine olue, inclining sometimes to green. The thorax is nearly twice the width of the head, truncated be- fore and behind, and somewhat heart-shaped ; the surface rough and granular. The elytra are oval and convex, covered with large tubercular points, which are arranged nearly in straight lines. The under side of the thorax and the sides of the abdo- men are tinged with greenish blue ; the other parts, as well as the legs, are black. The insects to which the generic appellation of CARABUS is now restricted is of very considerable extent, including about 170 well-ascertained species. They are generally of considerable size, and most frequently of a dark colour, glossed with blue or purple. Many of them, however, are of the bright- est metallic hues, and deserving of being ranked among the most ornamental of European beetles. Such are C. rutilans, an inhabitant of the Pyrenees, and our own C. nitens, found in heathy districts, where the soil is formed of peat, in many parts of Scotland and the north of England, which scarcely yields to any exotic insect in the brilliancy of its lustre. The principal seat of the Carabi is within the temperate zones ; they become rare in very warm countries, and seem to disappear altogether within the tropics. They are most abundant in the old world, but a few have likewise been observ- ed in the northern and southern extremities of Ame- rica. Britain possesses about sixteen species, and 124 NATURAL HISTORY OP half that number has been ascertained to inhabit Scotland. CARABUS HISPANUS. PLATE I. FIG. 4. Fabricius, Syst. Ehuth. p. 171 — Olivier, iii. 35, p. 22, No. 14, pi. 1, fig. 9. This species varies in length from ten to fifteen lines. The surface of the head is of a fine blue in- clining to violet, with the anterior part black ; it is ather deeply punctured, and marked with irregular wrinkles. The antennae are black, and the eyes brown. The thorax is nearly heart-shaped, a good deal contracted behind, similar in colour to the head, and likewise rough with punctures and wrin- kles : there is also an impressed line down the centre. The scutellum is black. The elytra are of an elon- gate-oval form, covered with impressed points which have a tendency to run into lines, three of which are pretty distinctly formed : they are of a bright copper-colour, glossed on the exterior edges with violet, and having a very high degree of lustre. The under parts of the body and the legs are glossy black. This splendid insect occurs in mountainous dis- tricts in the south of France, usually frequenting the banks of small rivulets which flow down the sides of hills. PLATE 2. J COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS.^ — — ^ 125 CARABUS AURATUS> PLATE II. FIG. 1. >sx^V. Fabricius, Syst. Eleuth. p. 175 — Olivier, iii. 35, p. 3^S 30, pi. 51, fig. 5, a, fc, c — Dejean, Spec. Ginir. p. 111. The colour of the upper side is green, glossed with golden yellow. The head is faintly punctured, and there are two longitudinal impressions between the antennae* The organs of the mouth, and the four lowest joints of the antennae, are reddish. The thorax is marked like the head, and has a longitu- dinal line down the middle, and a transverse im- pression on each side near the posterior angles. The elytra are oval and convex, each of them with three elevated ridges, the spaces between which are covered with small raised points, making them appear somewhat granulated. The under parts of the body are black, the anterior part slightly tinged with green. The legs are rust-red, and the tarsi brown. The ordinary length is about an inch. This is a very common insect throughout France, where it is known by the name of le Jardinier ; but it becomes rare as we advance northward, occurring very seldom in Germany and Sweden, A few in- stances are recorded of its having been taken in Britain, but it must be ranked among the rarest of our indigenous beetles. 126 NATUEAL HISTOBY OF CARABUS CLATHRATUS. PLATE II. FIG. 2. Fiibriciua — Olivier. — Gyllenhal, Insec. Suecica, p. 67. — Dc- jean. Spec. Gener. p. 108. This species is about an inch in length. It is of an oblong-ovate form, and wider in proportion to its length than most other species of the genus. The colour is dark brassy, varying considerably in shade in different individuals. The head and thorax are very faintly punctured, and the latter has the hinder angles very little produced. Each elytron has three elevated lines, and a triple series of rather deep excavations, which are of a golden-yellow or copper colour, united by an oblong tubercle rather indistinctly formed. The outer edge of the ely- tra is slightly sinuated at the apex in both sexes. The under side of the body and the legs are black. This was esteemed till lately one of the rarest kinds of the British Carabi. Although very scarce in England, it is now however ascertained to be pretty copiously distributed over the Western and Northern Highlands of Scotland. Throughout the southern division of the country, the most common species of the genus are C. catenulatus^ C. hortensis, and C. violaceus ; but as we advance northwards the two latter gradually become scarce, and their place is supplied by C. glabratus and C. clathratus. Of COLEOPTEBOUS INSECTS. 127 these two, the former is the most abundant in the northern counties of Scotland, and the elevation at which it is found on the mountains shows it not to be abhorrent even of a more northern climate. The latter occurs in considerable numbers in the north- west district of Sutherlandshire, and, next to C. gla- bratus, is the most common species, C. catenulatus becoming scarce, and the specimens small and dwarfish, which may be assumed as an indication of its having nearly reached the natural limit of its extension in a northern direction.* The genus TEFFLUS, which was first constituted by Dr Leach, differs from the two preceding genera in having the labrum or upper lip entire or with- out any notch. It includes only a single species, which has been named after a celebrated naturalist of Vienna. TEFFLUS MEGERLEI. PLATE II. FIG. 3. Carabus Megerlei, Fabricius, Syst. Ehuth. p. 1C9 __ De- Spec. Gcn'r. ii. p. 21. This insect is seldom much short of two inches in length. It is entirely of a uniform glossy black * In a recent expedition to explore the natural pro- ductions of Sutherlandshire, upwards of forty specimens of C. clathratus were procured, and C. glabratus might have been obtained almost in any number. 128 NATURAL HISTORY OP colour, except the eyes, which are yellowish. The outline of the thorax approaches to a hexagonal form ; the surface is thickly covered with deep punctures, which run together and render it very rough ; the margins are slightly elevated, and there is a faint line down the centre. The elytra are elongate-oval and very convex, each of them having seven longitudinal ridges, which unite at the extre- mity : in the bottom of the furrows between these ridges there is a row of small tubercles. It inhabits Senegal and the coast of Guinea. The genus Calosoma is chiefly distinguished from the true Carabi, to which it is very closely allied, by possessing wings ; by the third joint of the an- tennae, which is considerably longer than the others, and somewhat sharp on its outer edge ; by the man- dibles being destitute of teeth ; and by the form of the thorax, which is somewhat transverse, that is, wider than long, and equally rounded on the sides. The form of the elytra likewise differs, as they ap- proach more to a square shape than is usual among the carabideous tribes. Both as larvae and in their perfect form, these insects prey upon other species of their own class. The grubs, which resemble a small black worm, take up their abode in the nests generally of the processionary moth (Lasiocampa Processioned)^ and devour the caterpillars in great numbers. When in a state of repletion and inac- tivity from excessive gluttony, they are sometimes attacked and devoured by the smaller individuals of PLATE 3. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 129 their own fraternity. Although this genus ii not extensive, the species are very widely distributed. In Europe they range from Sweden to the shores of the Mediterranean ; several occur in Senegal and at the Cape of Good Hope ; and a considerable number inhabit America and the eastern regions of Asia. The only kinds known as British are C. inqui- sitor and that which we have figured : the latter is CALOSOMA SYCOPHANTA. PLATE III. FIG. 1. Fabricitif, Syst. Ekuth. p. 212 — Carabus svcophanta, O/k vier, iii. 35, p. 42, No. 43, t. 3, fig. 31. it does not exceed ten or eleven lines in length, the ligure on the plate being somewhat enlarged. The colour of all parts of the body except the ely- tra is violet-black, sometimes slightly glossed with green. The head and thorax are covered with minute punctures and irregular transverse wrinkles ; the former having two deep longitudinal impressions between the antennae, and the latter a faint line down the centre. The scutellum is black, and nearly smooth. The elytra are of a rich green, glossed with golden yellow ; in shape somewhat like a shield, and marked with closely placed striae, which have small punctures in the bottom, and a row of rather large and remote punctures on the fourth, eighth, and twelfth interstices. 130 NATURAL HISTORY OP This insect is of frequent occunence ai all tnfc middle and southern countries of Europe, but it be- comes scarce in the north. Few instances are re- corded of its having been observed in Britain, and an indigenous specimen is consequently regarded as a valuable acquisition by collectors. Mr Kirby mentions that one was taken at Aldborough in Suf- folk, by Dr Crabbe, the celebrated poet ; another Ly a young lady at Southwold, which is now in the cabinet of W. J. Hooker, Esq. ; and a third by a boy at Norwich, crawling up a wall, which was pur- chased of him by S. Wilkin, Esq. ELAPHRUS RIPARIUS. PLATE III. FIG. 2. Clcindela riparia, Linn. — Donovan'* British Insects, vol. £x» p. 301. The above figure represents this beautiful insect as it appears under a very high magnifier. The colour of the body is brassy green, with coppery re- flections. The head and thorax are very thickly punctured, and the latter has a short deep groove in the middle. The elytra are very thickly covered with minute punctures, and each is ornamented with four rows of rounded spots, rather faintly marked, wnich are purple in the centre, and surrounded with a ring of a metallic lustre. The spaces between these oceliated spots are very little elevated, except one COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 131 near the middle of the interior row. which is large, somewhat square, and very highly pofisned. The under side of the body arid legs &i e bronzed green, except the base of the thighs and greater part of the tibiae, which are pale reddish yellow. This insect is of frequent occurrence in most parts of Britain. The genus derives its name fiom a Greek word, referring either to the nature of the place which the species frequent, or to the activity of their motions.* It is distinguished by the an- tennae gradually becoming a little thicker towards the extremity ; by the thorax being at least as long as broad, and nearly of the same width as the head ; by the large and very prominent eyes ; and by hav- ing the four first joints of the anterior tarsi slightly dilated in the males. It contains only a few species, some of which bear such a strong resemblance to each other, as to countenance the conjecture that they may be mere varieties. They frequent marshy places, and the margins of lakes and ponds, running about with remarkable celerity during the heat of the day. They are most prevalent in the northern parts of Europe, the more common kinds becoming scarce in the south, and two or three not extending further than the northern extremity of Germany. There is one species found in America. * K>.*f, a marfh* or i/,art and thick, and are attached to the head in such a manner as to resemble ears. They consist of a clavate mass formed of seven closely joined rings, which is attached by a slender peduncle to the upper and internal edge of a large radical joint furnished with an auricle on its outer side, which, like the lid of a box, shuts in the antennae when unemployed, and protects them from the water.* The anterior legs are long, and formed for walking, or to act as instruments of prehension ; the four hinder ones are very short, compressed and ciliated externally, bearing a strong resemblance to the paddle of an oar. The head is sunk in the thorax as far as the eyes, and the latter are divided by a process from the anterior part of the head, in such a manner that there appear to be two eyes above and two below — a mode of structure admirably adapted to the wants of the insect, which requires, at the same time, to observe objects both in the air and water. * Kirby and Spence's Introd. to Entom. iii. 516. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 139 Throughout the greater part of the year there is scarcely a sheltered pool without a group of these agile little creatures, pursuing their avocations with the most sportive alacrity. Their chief occupation is swimming rapidly along the surface in concentric circles, or darting about in irregular gyrations, an exercise which they keep up during the whole day, without any apparent object but the love of motion. Their bodies are so highly polished, that they shine like a piece of burnished metal, and not a particle of water can adhere to them. When approached or otherwise interrupted, they speedily scatter or dive under the water, but soon re-appear and resume their sports. Their circular movements are no doubt produced by the natatory legs on the one side being more rapidly moved than on the other, as a boat is turned when the rowers on one side cease to ply. In collecting into parties, and leading up their mazy dance together in the sunshine, we may suppose these little creatures to be actuated by the same social feeling which Mr Wordsworth has ascribed to the gnat-like flies (TipulidcB\ which assemble in choirs, and may be seen in sheltered situations even in the middle of winter, alternately rising and falling with a rapid undulatory motion. Nor wanting here to entertain the thought, Creatures that in communities exist, Less, as might seem, for general guardianship, Or through dependence upon mutual aid, Than by participation of delight, 140 NATURAL HISTORY OF And a strict love of fellowship combined. What other spirit can it he that prompts The gilded summer flies to mix and weave Their sports together in the solar beam, Or in the gloom and twilight hum their joy ? These insects are not numerous in Britain, the registered species not exceeding eight, and it is probable that at least two of these are merely va- rieties. The most common in this country, as well as throughout the middle and northern parts of P^urope, is GYRINUS NATATOR. PLATE IV. FIG. 2. Linn. — Fabriciits — De Geer, Insect, iv, xiii. 4, 19. This species, of which we have given a greatly enlarged representation to show the form of the legs, is nearly three lines long, of an ovate form, blue black, with a metallic lustre, and highly re- splendent. The thorax is marked with three trans- verse lines on each side, of which the anterior one is punctured and runs parallel with the margin, the second is continued across the disk, and the poste- rior one abbreviated and bent forward. The scu- tellum is triangular, narrow, and elongate. The elytra are rather convex, the margin turned in at the sides and of a yellowish colour beneath, and the COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 141 surface of each marked with eleven striae or longi- tudinal lines composed of minute punctures. The breast is pitch red, and the terminal segment of the abdomen, together with the legs, is of a ferruginous hue. The following lively account of the manners of this species is given by a popular writer. " Water, quiet, still water, affords a place of action to a very amusing little fellow, which, about the middle of April, if the weather be tolerably mild, we see gam- boling upon the surface of the sheltered pool ; and every schoolboy, who has angled for minnows in the brook, is well acquainted with this merry swimmer in his shining black jacket. Retiring in the autumn, and reposing all the winter in the mud at the bot- tom of the pond, it awakens in the spring, rises to the surface, and commences its summer sports. They associate in small parties of ten or a dozen, near the bank, where some little projection forms a bay, or renders the water particularly tranquil ; and here they will circle round each other without con- tention, each in his sphere, and with no apparent object, from morning until night, with great spright- liness and animation ; and so lightly do they move on the fluid, as to form only some faint and transient circles on its surface. Very fond of society, we seldom see them alone, or, if parted by accident, they soon rejoin their busy companions. One pool commonly affords space for the amusement of seve- ral parties ; yet they do not unite or contend, but 142 NATUEAL HISTOEY OF perform their cheerful circlings in separate family associations. If we interfere with their merriment they seem greatly alarmed, disperse, or dive to the bottom, when their fears shortly subside, as we soon again see our little merry friends gamboling as be- fore. This plain, tiny, gliding water-rlea seems a very unlikely creature to arrest our young atten- tions ; but the boy with his angle has not often much to engage his notice, and the social active parties of this nimble swimmer, presenting them- selves at these periods of vacancy, become insensibly familiar to his sight, and by many of us are not ob- served in after life without recalling former hours, scenes of, perhaps, less anxious days ; for trifles like these, by reason of some association, are often re- membered, when things of greater moment pass off and leave no trace uoon the mind."* CYCLOUS VITTATUS. PLATE IV. FIG. 5. This insect exemplifies an exotic group, very closely related to the Gyrini, but offering so many minute modifications of structure as to warrant their separation into a distinct genus. The most obvious difference is the want of an apparent scutellum in Cyclous, the great size of the body, and the length * Journal of a Naturalist. COLEOPTEKOUS INSECTS. 143 of the anterior legs. The species figured is about nine lines long and five broad. The colour is blu- ish black, slightly glossed with purple, and having faint coppery reflections ; the whole surface highly polished and resplendent. During life the purpie and blue form pretty distinct bands on the elytra, especially towards the sides. The under side of tnc body is pitch brown, the natatory legs paler : tue fore-legs are very long, and of a brownish-black co- lour. It was received from Java. Three principal or typical forms prevail among beetles of strictly aquatic habits, to one or other of which nearly all of them may be regarded as refer- rible. Two of these have just been described as characterising the families Dytiscidce and Gyrinidce, and we shall now proceed to point out the distin- guishing marks of the third. Many of the species of which it is composed formed a part of the great Linnaean genus Dytiscus, but they differ so essenti- ally from the insects to which that term is now ap- plied, that Latreille, in his systematic arrangement, has removed them to a great distance from their former associates. Most other naturalists, however, have to a certain extent preserved the connection, owing to the affinity that arises from their inhabit- ing the same element, and presenting some points of resemblance in structure. The most striking character is the great length of the maxillary palpi, which are often considerably longer than the an- tennae— a circumstance which has led the group to ] 44 NATURAL HISTORY OP he distinguished by the name of PALPICORNES. The antennae usually consist of nine joints, which become larger towards the upper extremity, and are con- nected by a filament, which has the appearance of nassing through them. The genus most deserving of notice, is that first established by Dr Leach under tbe name of Hydrous. It is known by having the Jabrum entire, the posterior claws bifid, the elytra narrowing gradually behind, and the great size of flie teeth on the internal edge of the mandibles. HYDROUS PICEUS. PLATE IV. FIG. 4. Dytiscus piceus, Linn Hydrophilus piceus, Fab. — Hyd. piceus, Curtis' Brit. Ent. v. pi. 239 (from which the ac- companying figure is taken). The ground colour is black, inclining to olive, and the margins of the elytra are faintly tinged with green and purple. The antennae and organs of the mouth are reddish. Each wing-case is marked with eight dotted lines, and the alternate interstices with an irregular series of dots. The breast is clothed with yellowish hair, and there are several yellow spots on each side of the abdomen. The legs are of a pitchy colour, with the extremity of the tarsi, and the hairs with which they are fringed, reddish brown. This is the largest aquatic beetle inhabiting Bri- tain, and, indeed, with the exception of the Stag- COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 145 Beetle, it may be considered the most bulky of our indigenous Coleoptera. It is common in the south- ern parts of England, but becomes .rare in the north, and has not been observed in any part of Scotland. In its perfect state it is by no means so rapacious as the Dytisci, sometimes even feeding on vegetable substances ; but the larva is of such destructive and blood-thirsty propensities that it is known in France by the name of ver-assassin. In that early condition it resembles a large soft worm, of a somewhat coni- cal form, provided with six feet, and having its large scaly head armed with two formidable jaws. The head moves with such freedom in all directions, that it can readily seize small shell-fish and other molluscae floating on the surface, without altering the horizontal position of the body maintained in swim- ming ; and it is even bent backwards, and devours its prey more conveniently by using the back as a kind of support. These larvae swim with facility, and have two fleshy appendages at the tail, by means of which they suspend themselves at the surface with their head downwards when they have occasion to respire.* The female beetle spins a silken bag for the reception of her eggs, similar to that which may at any time be seen attached to a dark-coloured spi- der (LyCosa saccata\ of common occurrence under stones, and interesting for the maternal solicitude she shows in protecting her embryo progeny. Ir * Cuvier, Regne Animal, h% 623. K. M6 NATURAL HISTORY OF this receptacle they are left to swim about till they are hatched. BRACHELYTRA. The insects belonging to the second great family of the Coleoptera with five joints in each foot, form a well-defined group, readily distinguishable from their associates by their peculiar aspect. The body is narrow and elongated, and in its general form bears considerable resemblance to that of the Ear- wig. The elytra are so short that they seldom cover more than the base of the abdomen ; a cha- racter which has caused the family to be distinguished by the name BRACHELYTRA.* This peculiarity in the form of the wing-cases is obviously designed to render the body more flexible, by removing every obstacle to the motions of the abdomen. That part ac- cordingly possesses a great degree of suppleness, and is capable of being inflected in almost every direc- tion. When the animal is alarmed, or repelling the attack of an assailant, it bends the abdomen forwards over its back, and protrudes two conical vesicles from the extremity, which in certain species emit a strong scent of sulphuric ether. While in this at- titude, the jaws are usually kept extended to their utmost stretch, by which the appearance of the .iarger kinds is rendered sufficiently formidable to * From fyK%vf short> and sXr/rgav, a wing-case. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 14? avert the attack, not only of other insects, but of much more powerful foes. Notwithstanding the small size of the wing-cases, they suffice for the protection of the wings, which, when in' a state of inaction, are folded up with great nicety, in order to bring them within a narrow compass ; this opera- tion is assisted by the extremity of the abdomen, which can be reverted sufficiently to push the wings under their cases. These insects live for the most part under stones, in excrementitious substances, decaying wood, and mushrooms ; many of the kinds inhabiting America are observed most frequently flying about trees, in search of caterpillars and minute insects. They are extremely voracious, and the larger kinds devour in- discriminately whatever other species they can sub- due. The larvae are very similar to the perfect in- sect, but of a softer substance and a more conical form. In the latter the last segment of the abdomen is lengthened in the shape of a tube, and furnished with two hairy appendages. Tne amount of known species does not fall much short of a tnousand, and nearly eight hundred nave been found in Britain. They were all included by Linnaeus in his comprehensive genus Staphylinus, but are now arranged in a multitude of subordinate genera. The term Staphylinus is now restricted to such as have all the palpi filiform, and the antennae inserted above the labrum and mandibles, between the eyes. The general appearance of the insects 148 NATURAL HISTORY OF of this genus is exemplified in the conspicuous spe- cies represented. STAPHYLINUS ERYTHRURUS. PLATE V. FIG. 1. It is about an inch and a half in length, of a black colour, rather smooth and glossy, with the two last segments of the abdomen rust red. The mandibles are very large, and armed with strong teeth on their internal edge. The head, which is large and square, having the surface thinly punctured, is united to the thorax by a short neck. The thorax is nearly half an oval, and considerably narrower than the head and elytra. The latter are rather thickly punctured, and have a narrow longitudinal ridge on each side of the sutural line. The abdomen is black, with the two apical segments deep red, and fringed on the sides with hair. The under side of the body, and the legs, are black. ' The individual from which the above figure is taken was obtained from North America. PL ATI- 5. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 1-19 XANTHOLINUS FULGIDUS. PLATE V. FIG. 2. Staph. fulgidus, PaykulL — Othius fulgidus, Leach* Stephen*. — Olivier, iii. No. 42, pi. 4, fig. 34, 0, 6, c. This genus includes such brachelytrous insects as are of a linear shape, with the head and thorax in the form of an elongated square, the antennae placed near each other at the base, and in general suddenly bent, or geniculated, as it is called, and having the greater number of the joints somewhat granular or cup-shaped. The legs are rather short and strong, and the anterior tarsi very slightly or not at all di- lated. The species, of which we have given a mag- nified figure, is of frequent occurrence in most parts of Britain and the north of France. The head is oblong-ovate, of a glossy black colour, punctured on each side, and having a transverse series of three or four remote punctures between the eyes. The tho- rax is nearly of the same colour as the head, with a few small punctures on each side, among which three larger ones are observable. The elytra are of a deep red, shining, punctured, and clothed with short hairs. The abdomen is black, the terminal segment, as well as the under side of the body, pitch-red. The legs, antennae, and the organs of the mouth, are light-red. J5Q * Dejean. This fine species is rather of smaller size than the preceding, but very similar to it in form and sculpture. The colour of the whole body is bright green with copper-colour and golden reflections, the antennae and tarsi alone being blackish. The thorax is very convex, and has its hinder margin produced in the centre in the form of a triangle ; the surface is thickly covered with large and deeply impressed punctures. The elytra are pretty thickly marked with minute punctures, and numerous round- ed impressions, variable in size, which are filled with ash-coloured scales ; one of these placed at the base of each elytron is larger than the rest. At the apex of each elytron there are two small teeth, and another on the external edge at a small distance from them. The sternum is produced into a strong spine, and is bent downwards. Likewise an inhabitant of the East Indies. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 157 BUPRESTIS BICOLOR. PLATE VI. FIG. 3. Buprestis tricolor, Fal — Catoxantha bicolor, Dejean. This is the largest and one of the most beautiful spe- cies of the splendid tribe to which it belongs. It seems to have been very little known to Entomologists of the old school, since it is not figured, and seldom alluded to, in any of their works. The specific name bicolor has no doubt been applied to it on account of the striking contrast between the colour of the upper and under side. The former is deep brassy green, very smooth and glossy ; the latter is light brownish yellow. The head has a deep groove down the middle, and the greater part of it is oc- cupied by the eyes, which are of a deep chestnut colour. The thorax is small and depressed, thinly covered with minute punctures, and having a cal- osity at each of the hinder angles, marked with a pretty large triangular spot similar in colour to the under side of the body. The elytra are very long, and rather convex, punctured anteriorly, each of them having four slightly elevated lines running along their whole length, and a short oblique one near the suture at the base : the colour is brilliant brassy green, with faint coppery reflections towards the sides, and a large transverse spot of yellowish white on each, placed a little behind the middle. 158 NATURAL HISTORY OP The wings are of a deep smoke brown, finely gloss- ed with blue. The under parts of the body are yel- lowish brown, and very glossy ; some of the inci- sures, and a large spot between the middle and hinder legs, are nearly black. The legs are shining green, and have a very fine pubescence, which is likewise observable on the sides of the breast. It is a native of Java, but by no means common. BUPRESTIS AMCENA. PLATE VI. FIG. 4. JTir&t/, Linn. Trant. xii. 381. This species is of the most brilliant blue, inclin- ing to green when seen in certain directions, and having a yellow band across the elytra towards the apex. The thorax has no groove in the centre. The elytra are somewhat furrowed ; the outer edge is ser- rated, two of the serratures forming acute teeth on each side of the suture at the hinder extremity. Both the upper and under side of the abdomen are bril- liant blue. It is a native of Brazil and other tropi- cal countries of America. The second division of the Sternoxes forms the family of the ELATERID.E. The latter bear a con- siderable resemblance to the insects of the former family, but are much less convex in their general form, narrower and more elongate, and have the hinder angles of tfie thorax prolonged into a strong COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS, 159 triangular point like a spine. They are likewise distinguished by possessing the power of leaping to some height into th.e air when they happen to fall on their back — a provision not required by the Bu- prestidae, probably because the more rounded form of their bodies enables them without difficulty to regain their natural position. The legs of the Ela- teridae are so short and slender, that without some property of this kind they would be as unable to recover their standing as a reversed tortoise. The spring is produced by bending the head and tho- rax backwards, and suddenly forcing the projecting point into the hole designed to receive it, — while the action is assisted by the pressure of the elastic elytra and other parts of the body against the plain of position. This operation is attended with a sharp snapping noise, which has caused these insects to be termed click-beetles, in addition to the names of skipjacks and spring-beetles, by which they are like- wise known in England. We are but imperfectly acquainted with the me- tamorphoses of these insects, and the larvae of most of them appear to be unknown. The individual described by De Geer (E. undulatus) is long and cylindrical, provided with short antennae, palpi, and six feet. Its body consists of twelve scaly segments, of which the posterior forms a circular plate, fur nished with two blunt points curving inwards : un- derneath there is a large fleshy protuberance, which seems to serve the office of a foot. The grub so 160 NATURAL HISTORY OP well known in this country by the name of wire- worm is the larva of a kind of Eluter (E. obscurus). It is of a very slender form (as will be seen by the accompanying figure), but so tough and horny that it can re- sist a considerable degree of pressure without injury. It is said to continue five years in the larva state, and during that time it lives in the earth, devour- ing the roots of various kinds of corn and vegetables. The damage it occa- sions in this way is so considerable, that sometimes entire fields of corn are destroyed by it. The larva of the fire-fly, we are informed by Humboldt, feeds on the roots of the sugar-cane, and often proves very destructive to that plant in the West Indian islands. Several insects of this family are remarkably distin- guished by the power of emitting a bright phospho- ric light, which renders them exceedingly beautiful and conspicuous objects among the dark foliage of tropical woods, and when the shades of night have fallen upon the forests. This luminous property, which has procured for them the name of fire-flies, they possess in common with several other coleop- terous species, named glow-worms, which belong to a different section, and therefore fall to be consider- ed in a subsequent part of the volume. Besides these two groups, there is another, still more re- markable, known under the English generic appel- lation of Lantern-flies. In these insects the seat of I. Z /,-//<"/• 7ioc/r/ut v/.v percatus 3. lineatus COLEOPTEROVS INSECTS 161 the luminous matter is an elongated projection from the head, in the form of a rostrum or snout, which is dilated in one of the species (Fulgora lanterna- rid) into a figure not unlike a mitre, and in others is fantastically adorned with knobs and spines; through this organ the light is suffused in a lambent effulgence of considerable brilliancy. These insects however, belong to the order Hemiptera, and then history does not fall within the scope of the present notice. The species of fire-fly that affords the finest exhi- bition of this interesting phenomenon, is named ELATER NOCTILUCUS. PLATE VII. FIG 1. Pyroporus noctiluca, Dejean. It is upwards of an inch long, and one third of an inch broad. The colour is a uniform obscure blackish brown, and the body is everywhere covered with a short light-brown pubescence. The thorax is pretty convex, and there are two small depression* (at least in one of the sexes) on the surface before the middle ; the hinder angles are produced into a strong conical spine, and between the hinder angle and the middle there is placed on each side a smooth convex round spot of a yellow colour. The elytra are indistinctly marked with rows of small punctures, which are most obvious at the base. The under 162 NATURAL HISTORY OF parts of the body, as well as the legs, are brownish black, and covered with pubescence of a somewhat lighter hue. This insect is pretty widely distributed over the intertropical countries of South America, and the West Indian islands. When it walks or is at rest, the principal light which it emits issues from the two yellow tubercles placed at the lateral margins of the thorax ; but when the wings and elytra are expanded in the act of flight, another luminous spot is disclosed in the hinder part of the thorax. This luminosity is so considerable, that it is often employed in the countries where it prevails as a substitute for artificial lights. A single insect is sufficient to enable a person to decipher the smallest written character, and when several are brought together, their light is said to suffice for all the ordinary evening occupations of an Indian's dwelling. They are employed for many useful pur- poses ; the Indians are said to have formerly used them instead of flambeaux in their hunting and fish- ing expeditions, and when travelling in the night they were accustomed to fasten them to their feet and hands. Another important service is rendered by these insects in destroying the gnats and mus- quitoes, which abound in tropical countries to the incessant annoyance of the inhabitants. Like most 'other animals of nocturnal habits, the fire-flies are attracted by strong light, and the Indians avail themselves of this circumstance to obtain them for COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 103 the purposes above mentioned. The mode in which they are taken, and several curious particulars re specting their appearance and uses, are thus quaintly described by an old author: — "Whoso wanteth cucuij," says Pietro Martire, in his Decades of the New World, " goeth out of the house in the first twilight of the night, carrying a burning fire-brande in his hande, and ascendeth the next hillock, that the cucuij may see it, and hee swingeth the fire brande about, calling cucuius aloud, and beateth the ayre with often calling and crying out cucuie, cu- cuie. Many simple people suppose that the cucuij, delighted with that noise, come flying and flocking together to the bellowing sound of him that calleth them, for they come with a speedy and headlong course ; but I rather thinke that the cucuij make haste to thfc brightness of the fire-brande, because swarmes of gnattes fly into every light, which the cucuij eat in the very ayre, as the martlets and swallowes doe. Some cucuius sometimes followeth the fire-brande, and lighteth on the grounde ; then is he easily taken, as travellers may take a beetle if they have need thereof walking with his wings shut. In sport and merriment, or to the intent to terrify such as are afrayed of every shadow, they say that many wanton wild fellowes sometimes rubbed their faces by night with the fleshe of a cucuius, being killed, with purpose to meet their neighbours with a flaming countenance, as with us wanton young men, putting a gaping vizard over their face, en- 1G4 NATURAL HISTORY OP deavour to terrify children, or women who are easily frighted," &c. During the splendour of a tropical sunshine — the long, sunny lapse of a summer day's light Shining on, shining on— the sombre hues of the fire-flies attract but little at- tention amidst the infinite variety of living beings of more imposing form and attractive manners that people to overflowing these prolific lands, while every lesser light is lost in the effulgency of " re- dundant day." But no sooner do the lofty and umbrageous trees begin to throw their shadows across the landscape, than occasional specks of light are seen to flit amidst the growing obscurity. As the darkness increases, these become more nume- rous; they mount into the air and shoot athwart the gloom like igneous meteors, and when the underwood is disturbed they rise in such numbers that they span- gle the air as with a thousand stars. The brilliancy of this spectacle, so far transcending any similar ap- pearance witnessed in temperate climates, seldom fails to excite the admiration of an European tra- veller. Its effect on some British visitors has been thus described : ,- Sorrowing, we beheld The night come on ; but soon did night display More wonders than it veiled ; innumerous tribes From the wood-cover swarmed, and darkness made Their beauties visible ; one while they streamed A bright blue radiance upon flowers that closed COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 1C5 Their gorgeous colours from the eye of day ; Now motionless and dark, eluded search, Self-shrouded ; and anon, starring the sky, Rose like a shower of fire.* An appearance alike remarkable for its singularity and beauty, is well fitted to afford imagery to the poetry and figurative oratory of the natives of the countries where it prevails ; and if a learned Greek could suppose the hum of an obscure beetle to be the voice of the gods speaking to mankind, f it need less excite our wonder that some savage nations, unacquainted with the causes of natural phenome- na, and so prone to consider " holy light" as a di- vine effulgence, should have regarded even the more obscure manifestations of a supposed celestial princi- ple with superstitious veneration, and imagined these illuminated beings to be the appointed vehicles for conveying the souls of the departed to their final resting place. The following extract contains an account of the introduction of a few fire-flies into Britain : — "Mr Lees having been struck with the beauty of the fire-fly on his arrival in the West Indies, and be- coming desirous to keep them alive, made several attempts during his residence at the Bahamas ; but * Southey's Madoc. f Dum volant, tanto stridore vel murmure et gemitu potius aerem replent, ut per eos Deorum cum hominibur fieri colloquia Laertius scriberet — Mouf. Theat. 134. 166 NATURAL HISTORY OP was unable to succeed in his object, until he learned from a lady, that the cage containing the insects should be daily immersed in cold water. This is rendered necessary from their natural habitation being in swampy meadows, where, during the day, they probably lie concealed in the wet herbage. Perhaps the introduction of damp moss into the cage (which ought to be made of wood, and not glued together) might be more natural and salutary to the insects. The Elaters feed upon the sugar-cane, and should the larvae do so likewise, which is more than probable, from their being xylophagous, they must do incredible mischief to the planters, as they are produced in abundance in the West Indian islands, and are very generally distributed over them. Mr Lees having taken some sugar-cane to sea with him to feed the beetles upon, he observed that they readily broke the wood away with their mandibles to obtain the saccharine matter on which they fed ; and after his stock was consumed, he gave them brown sugar, by which means they were kept alive the whole of their voyage, from June to the middle of September. " The insect, when roused and in perfect vigour, seems to be completely saturated with the luminous secretion, since the back, when the elytra and wings are expanded, has a phosphoric appearance ; and there is a strong light at the base of the abdomen, where the posterior coxae are attached, which being apparent only in some, I thought might be peculiar COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 167 to one sex, but its absence was more probably caused by a languid state of the animal. The light is far more beautiful in colour, and greater in power, than the mild secretion of the glow-worm ; and the sub- stance, if removed from the beetle immediately after death, will remain luminous like phosphorus, on the objects on which it is placed. " It is to be hoped that others will be induced to bring these insects over alive earlier in the season ; for there can be little doubt that they would live through a warm summer in this climate. I do not despair therefore of seeing our fair countrywomen at home, as well as abroad, employing these living gems to add to the splendour of their attire. At the Havannah they are collected and sold for orna- menting the ladies' head-dresses at evening parties, when they are, I understand, generally confined under gauze which covers the head, and from among the ringlets of hair these terrestrial stars shine forth with all their beauty."* ELATER PORCATUS. PLATE VII. FIG. 2. FMcius — Olivier, ii. No. 31, pi. 7, fig- 74 — Chalcolepi- dius porcatus, Esch — Dcjean. The body of this insect is of a shining black, but it derives its superficial colour from a coating of * Zoological Journal, vol. iii. p. 379. 1^8 NATURAL HISTORI OF scales, which are either white or green. The head and central portion of the thorax are more or less green., but the scales are usually abraded, when they appear shining black ; the sides of the latter are whitish. The elytra are marked with deep furrows, which approximate in pairs, and are more or less filled with white scales, making the surface appear as if lined with white. The under parts of the body, and the legs, are green, except where the black sur- face is exposed by the scales being rubbed off. Found in considerable abundance in Brazil, Cay- enne, and other parts of tropical America. It is almost always found on the trunks of trees, and falls to the ground when the hand is extended to seize it. KLATER LINEATUS. PLATE VII. FIG. 3. Fdbriclus. — Olivier -, ii. No. 31, pi. 6, fig. 63. — Hemirhipus lineatus, Latreille, Dejean. The prevailing hue of this large and conspicuous insect is black, and the surface is covered with a fine pubescence, which gives it a silky gloss. The body is elongate, and rather obtuse at the two ex- tremities. The antennae are black. The head, outer margin of the thorax, and a line down the middle, are covered with silky pubescence of a red- dish colour. The elytra are striated, black, with a COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. I 09 longitudinal elevated line of red down the middle of each, which is turned backwards at tne base. The under side of the body, and the legs, are black. An inhabitant of the same countries as the pre- ceding species, and often found in company with it. ELATER SUTURALIS. PLATE VII. FIG 4. Falricius.— Olivier, ii. No. 31, pi. 1, fig. 3, a, 6, c, d. — Ela-. ter angulatus, Drury's Illustrations, iii. pi. 47, fig. 5. This species is liable to considerable variation both in size and markings. The head and antennae are black, and the former has an angular projection on each side anteriorly. The thorax is rather long and narrow, and is produced on each side before the middle into an acute angle: the colour is yellow, with a broad streak of black down the centre ; and occasionally there is a rounded spot of black placed between the dorsal line and the lateral projections. The scutellum is black. The elytra are reddish yellow, with a broad band of black on each side, and another along the suture, which meet at the apex, and gradually become narrower at the opposite ex- tremity, scarcely extending to the base. The legs and under side of the abdomen are reddish yellow, the latter with two longitudinal streaks of black. Likewise a native of South America, where it ap- pears to be pretty common. 170 NATURAL HISTORY OP ELATER DISTINCTUS. PLATE VII. FIG. 5. Prricalus distinctus, Herbst. — Pericalus acuminatus, Dc» jean. Cat. This handsome species is of a reddish chestnut colour, very glossy, and almost free from pubescence. The head, which is excavated in the middle, and the two lower joints of the antennae, are reddish, the remaining joints of the latter dusky. The thorax is deeply punctured, especially towards the sides and has a black streak down the middle. The ely- tra are rather convex, and taper to the hinder ex- tremity, where they are produced into a kind of spine ; the surface marked with straight punctured lines, a dark-brown band along the middle of each elytron, and another on each side of the sutural line. The under side and legs are chestnut red. Found in South America, and often observed, according to M.* Lacordaire, along with several of the species already described, resting on the stems of trees. PLATE 8. fLlg^s Of THE r UNIVERSITY COLEOPTEROUS ELATER MELANOCEPHALUS. PLATE VIII. FIG. 1. Fabricitts — Olivier, ii. No. 31, pi. 4, fig. 36, 0, J __ Melan- oxanthns melanocephalus, Esch. Dejean. This insect, of which we have given a greatly en- larged figure from Olivier, bears some resemblance to the indigenous species E. balteatus. The anten- nae and head are black. The thorax is reddish, very smooth and shining, and there is an oblong spot of black extending from the head rather beyond the middle. The elytra are reddish, with the hinder extremity black, the surface marked with punctured lines. The under side and legs are red, the extre- mity of the abdomen being more or less suffused with dusky black. It is a native of the East Indies. The section of the SERRICORNES, formed by spe- cies with a somewhat flexible integument, compre- hends the interesting family of glow-worms, or Lam- pyridce. It corresponds to the undivided genus Lam- pyris as constituted by Linnaeus. The species may be known by having antennae approximating at the base, the head small and nearly concealed by the projecting edge of the thorax, and the body de- pressed or very slightly convex. In the male the eyes are so large as to occupy almost the whole head. The penultimate joint of the tarsi is always divided into two lobes, and the claws are simple ; 1/2 NATURAL HISTORY OP that is, without teetn or other appendage. But these insects are best known by the remarkable property which many of them possess of diffusing a phosphoric light, a peculiarity which has suggest- ed a name for them in every country where they occur. Only one species, L. noctiluca, is to be found in Britain. It is abundant in some of the southern counties of England, but occurs very sel- dom in Scotland, although it has been noticed in several places in the southern division of that coun- try. One of the most interesting of those indige- nous to Europe, is named LAMPYRIS ITALICA. PLATE VIII. FIG. 2. I/ampyris Italica, Linn — Olivier, Entom. ii. No. 28, p. 18, pi. 2, fig. 12, a, 6, c, d — Lampyris australis, Fab — Co- liphotia Italica, Dejean. This is one of the smallest luminous insects with which we are acquainted, the ordinary length not exceeding three lines and a half. The prevailing hue is blackish brown. The thorax and scutellum are reddish yellow, pretty deeply punctured and pu- bescent, and the former has sometimes a dusky spot in the centre. The elytra are somewhat rough with numerous and rather deeply impressed punctures The breast and legs (with the exception of the tarsi) are yellow, and the abdomen dusky black, COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 173 svith the two terminal segments white, slightly tinged with yellow. This species is very abundant throughout the southern parts of Europe, particularly in Italy, where it is named Lucciola. Contrary to what is observed in the British Glow-worm, both sexes are provided with wings. When the insect either perches or creeps little light is therefore perceptible, but it becomes obvious as soon as the wing-cases are opened for flight. It is not however constant, but has a kind of scintillating appearance, recur- ring at every other instant, as if disclosed by the opening of the wings at each successive expansion. When the insect is laid upon its back, a position from which it cannot easily recover itself, the light is steady and unvarying. It is of considerable in- tensity in a single insect, and when three or four are brought together, it is sufficient to render the smallest objects around quite visible. It is appa- rent in the twilight, but is not fully displayed till the darkness is confirmed. It then becomes a pheno- menon of some interest and beauty, as the insects are so numerous and active that their luminous tracks through the air can be traced in all direc- tions, Upward and downward, thwarting and convolved ; and they spangle the shrubs and herbage with Innumerable radiant points. Their appearance and effect in the neighbourhood of Genoa, is thus de- scribed by Sir J. E. Smith :— « On the eve of St John 174 NATURAL HISTORY OF Baptist, the great festival of Genoa, the town was brilliantly illuminated ; while along the purple coast to the west, the last rays of the setting sun still trembled on the hills, and the moon arose in the east. To these three contrasted lights was added the singular effect of the innumerable flying glow-worms, darting their momentary splendour through all the streets, gardens, and rooms. We used frequently to catch these little insects, and entangle them in the ladies' hair and head-dresses, a decoration the women in some countries adopt themselves. A lady of Genoa told me a singular anecdote of some Moorish women of rank, taken prisoners by the Genoese, and detained for a ransom. They wrere lodged in a villa out of the town, and visited, dur- ing their stay, by several families. A party going to see them one summer's evening after a hot day, were surprised to find all their doors and windows close shut, and themselves in the utmost terror and distress. They had conceived an idea that these luminous flies were the disturbed souls of their re- lativeSi The common people of Genoa too suppose them to be of a spiritual nature, and to come out of the graves — of course they are beheld with abhor- rence."* • Sketch of a Tour on the Continent, vol. Hi. p. 84. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. I /5 LAMPYRIS LATREILLII. PLATE VIII. FJG. 3. Kirby, Linn. Trans, vol. xii. 387, pi- 21, fig. 4 — Selas Latreillii, Dejean. This insect may be regarded as representing a pretty numerous group of glow-worms confined to the tropical parts of America, and differing consi- derably in structure from the European species. Some of them are the largest of their tribe, and they contribute more than any other to embellish the nights of the torrid zone, as. the light which they emit is of considerable splendour, and their flight higher in the air and longer sustained than in the other kinds. They pass the day in a state of inactivity, and are usually found on the trunks of trees, clinging to the bark or concealed in its fis- sures. The species represented, which Mr Kirby has de- dicated to Latreille, Entomologorum facile princeps, is about twelve to thirteen lines in length. The body is ovate, and of a dull black colour. The an- tennae of the male consist of ten joints, all of which, except the radical and terminal ones, emit a long, compressed, flexible branchlet from each side : in the female the antennae are eleven jointed, and deeply serrated on both sides. The thorax is of a pale brownish yellow, marked with three blackish 176 NATURAL HISTORY OF spots, of which the central one is longest and some- what triangular. The elytra are very thickly co- vered with minute punctures ; the colour blackish, except the outer margin, the suture, and a broad streak extending from each shoulder rather beyond the middle, which are of a light yellowish brown. The wings are black. It is found in Brazil and other inter tropical countries of South America. The genus Lycus is distinguished by having the snout longer than the hinder part of the head, and the antennae serrated. The elytra are often remark- ably dilated at the sides, and usually reticulated on the surface. They are likewise enlarged at the hin- der extremity, and rounded, particularly in the fe- males. LYCUS FESTIVUS. PLATE VIII. FIG. 4. Lampyris festiva, Donovan's Brit. Ins. xvi. pi. 544. The length of this insect is about three lines and a half The colour is a tawny orange, with the apex of the elytra, a spot on the middle of the thorax, and the under side of the body and legs, brownish black. Each elytron has four elevated lines, the spaces be- tween which are deeply punctured. It is said by Donovan to have been found in England, but is considered a doubtful native. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 177 MALACHIUS MARGINELLUS. PLATE VIII. FIG. 5. Fabricms Olivier, ii. No. 27, pi. 3, fig. 18, 0, b. This insect affords an example of the family Me- lyridce*, which is characterised by short and filiform palpi, mandibles notched at the point, a narrow elongated body, undivided joints in the tarsi, and claws furnished with a single tooth. The genus Malachius* generally has the joints of the antennas a little produced on the inner side ; the thorax is wider than the head, and has a vesicle, capable of being dilated and contracted, beneath each of the anterior angles. The radical joints of the antennae are often irregular in the male. The species are numerous, amounting to more than a hundred, but only fifteen of these occur in Britain. They are chiefly European, but a few are found in every quarter of the world. The species above refer- red to (which is represented as it appears under a powerful magnifier) is a native of France and England. It is of a brassy-green colour, with the sides of the thorax and tips of the elytra of a blood red. The under parts of the body and legs are like- wise green, and the antennae black. Another tribe of malacodermatous insects consti- • From pet*.**!*, referring to the softness of the body. M 178 NATURAL HISTORY OF tute the family Tillidce of Dr Leach. Its principal characters are found in the beautiful species which we have selected to represent it. It was first de- scribed by Mr Kirby, under the name of PRIOCERA VARIEGATA. PLATE VIII. FIG. 6. Kirby, Linncean Trans, xii. p. 392, pi. 21, fig. 7. In this genus the upper lip is emarginate, the ter- minal joint of the maxillary palpi compressed and oblong, while the same joint in the labial palpi is hatchet shaped ; the body is convex, and the thorax much contracted behind. The colour of the only species known is brownish black on the body. The head and thorax are deeply punctured, and the an- tennae are somewhat reddish. The elytra are of a fine red, with four large quadrate yellow spots, one on each shoulder, and two behind the middle form- ing a band, with several small yellow spots in the space between : behind the yellow band there is another of a brown colour, and the apex is unspotted. The legs are dusky black. It is a native of Brazil. CLAVICORNES. The name of this family, like most of those that have preceded it, refers to the structure of the an- tennae, which become thicker at the extremity, and COLEOPTE110US INSECTS. 179 often form a nearly solid club or knob. The spe- cies are provided with only two pair of palpi, one of them affixed to the maxillae, the other to the under lip. The joints of the tarsi are for the most part undivided. The most conspicuous and interesting genus which it contains is named NECROPHORUS, a term nearly corresponding in meaning to the English one Bury ing -beetle, and both of them re- ferring to a remarkable peculiarity in the manners of the insects. The females deposit their eggs in the decaying carcasses of moles, mice, and other small animals, which they previously bury for this purpose. To effect this operation, seemingly sc disproportionate to their size and strength, two or three beetles generally unite their labours, and re- move the earth from beneath the dead body, which gradually sinks into the excavation. During this process they may be seen dragging at the object from below, and even mounting upon it as if to tread it into the grave. They labour at their task of inhu- mation with the most unwearied industry. According to Mr Gleditsh, who was the first to give an accurate account of the proceedings of these grave-diggers, four beetles were observed to inter in a very small space of earth, to which they were confined, no fewer than twelve carcasses, few of which were in- ferior in size to a mole. The object of all this so- licitude is the security and comfort of their young, as the carcass, which forms a nidus for the eggs, if left exposed, would run the risk of being devoured ISO NATURAL HISTORY OP by beasts of prey, or the juices would be speedily evaporated by the heat of the sun, and the maggots thus deprived of their appropriate nourishment. The Necrophori are distinguished by the form of the antennae, which are very little longer than the head, with the four last joints forming a perfoliate club, as represented in the following figure. The mandibles are without teeth, and the elytra are of an oblong-quad- rate form, leaving three or four of the segments of the abdomen un- covered. The species, amounting to near thirty, are confined, as far as is yet known, to Europe and the northern parts of America. They are almost in- variably of a brownish-black colour, frequently va- riegated with spots and bands of orange yellow. Seven different kinds occur in Britain, one of which is represented on the accompanying plate. NECROPHORUS HUMATOR. PLATE IX. FIG. 1. Silpha Humator, Olivier. — Marskam^s Entom. Brit. — Do- novan's British Insects, ii. pi. 537, fig. 1. This species is entirely of a brownish-black co- iour, except the three last joints of the antennae, which are orange yellow. The head and thorax are very fjiintly punctured, and the surface of the latter is PLATE 9. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 181 rattier unequal. The elytra are. more deeply punc- tured ; each of them with three slightly elevated lines, and a tubercle towards the hinder extremity near the outer angle. The breast is clothed with yellow hairs, and those on the legs are of the same colour. It is frequently met with in England and Scot- land, and most of the northern countries of Europe. NECROBES LITTORALIS. PLATE IX. FIG. 2. Silpha littoralis, Linn — Mar sham.— Curtis' Brit. Ent. vii. 334. In this genus the antennae are considerably longer than the head, but shorter than the thorax, thick- ening gradually from the fifth joint to the apex. The thorax is nearly orbicular, and the mandibles have a tooth near the middle. The only species found in Britain is that referred to above. It is entirely of a black colour, with the three terminal joints of the antennae orange yellow. There are three elevated lines on each elytron, the spaces be- tween which are very thickly punctured : the se- cond line is angulated a little behind the middle, and connected with the third by a tubercle. The hinder thighs are very thick, and dentate on the under side. It is found on the shores of the sea and the banks of rivers, under sea-weed, carrion, &c. occurring not unfrequently. 182 FATUEAL HISTORY OF SILPHA QUADRIPUNCTATA. PLATE IX. FIG. 3. Linn — Donovan — Marsham — Silpha 4-maculata, Samou- die's Useful Compend. pi. 2, fig. 7. This genus, as originally constituted by Linnaeus, was of great extent, and included both the preced- ing genera, besides several others. In its modern application it comprehends such insects as have the antennae slightly compressed, and thickening gradu- ally from the seventh joint to the apex. The body is nearly in the form of a shield, depressed or very slightly convex, and the thorax is semicircular, with the anterior part truncated or very obtuse. The species feed chiefly on decaying animal matter, and are of great service in freeing the surface of the earth from putrid substances which might otherwise infect the air. Owing to the reason formerly as- signed, few or none of these creatures are found in tropical countries.* They are chiefly confined to the temperate regions of America, and to Europe. Up- wards of thirty kinds are named in our entomologi- cal catalogues, and about a dozen of these inhabit Britain. S. quadripunctata, one of the most orna- mental of the tribe, is not unfrequent in France and England and has been found in Scotland as far * Page 96. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 183 north as Sutherlandshire. It is black and shining, with the sides 6f the thorax and elytra pale yellow, the latter with two rounded spots of black on each. The length is from five to six lines. ANTHRENUS SCROPHULARI/E. PLATE IX. FJG. 4. Fdbriciut. — Byrrhus scrophularise, Linn. — Anth. Scroph., Olivier -, ii. No. 14, pi. 1, fig. 5, a, &. This insect scarcely exceeds two lines in length, the accompanying figure is therefore magnified to show its structure and markings with greater dis- tinctness. The head is black, and sometimes has a small white spot on the forehead. The antennae are reddish near the base, but black towards the tip. The thorax is black, with the sides whitish, and the hinder edge frequently of a deep-red colour. The elytra are black, with three bands of white, which are interrupted towards the suture: the latter is deep red. The under side is clothed with white scales, and the legs are brownish black. It occurs in Britain and almost every country of Europe. The larvae feed on dried animal substances, and are some- times very destructive in museums, by attacking the skins of preserved specimens. The perfect insects frequent flowers, a circumstance to which the gene- ric name bears reference 184 NATURAL HISTORY OE HISTER RENIFORM1S. PLATE IX. FIG. 5. This genus is readily recognised by the peculiar form of the body. It is almost square, and the ely- tra are short and truncated at the extremity. The legs are contractile, that is, they are short and com- pressed, and capable of being drawn close to the body. The lower joint of the antennae is very long, and forms an angle with the upper portion which terminates in a rounded knob. All these insects are of small size, and find their nourishment in ca- daverous and excrementitious matters. The outer covering is very rigid, and when the legs are con- tracted, they can bear a great degree of pressure without injury. When alarmed, they lie perfectly still, and often deceive their enemies by simulating- death with great accuracy and perseverance. About 120 species are known to entomologists, and of these upwards of 30 inhabit this country. The species figured as an example, is of a glossy black colour, with two spots of red on the elytra. The latter have two or three longitudinal ridges, and are rather thickly punctured at the sides. The under side of the body and legs are likewise black, the latter den- tate on their outer edge. It is found in various Darts of Europe. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. LAMELLICORNES. This important section of the pentamerous bee- tles is so designated, because the antennae terminate in a club or large knob, composed of several laminae or thin plates, disposed somewhat like the leaves of a book, and which the insects can open and shut at pleasure. They are inserted in a deep excavation, under the lateral edges of the head, and usually con- sist of nine or ten joints. The anterior pair of legs are somewhat adapted for digging, as the tibiae are rather broad, and armed with strong spines on the terminal angles and outer sides. As many of these insects feed on substances in a state of decomposi- tion, which scarcely require any further trituration to fit them for food, the mandibles are sometimes of a membranous substance, — a peculiarity not ob- servable in any other Coleoptera. This division is of great extent, the most recent enumeration of its species making them amount to upwards of 2000. Scarcely more than 1 20 occur in Britain, but several of these are the most conspicu- ous and best knowrn of our native Coleoptera, such, for example, as the Stag-beetle and the Cockchafer. The tropical kinds are distinguished by their mag- nitude, and are by far the most remarkable-looking of their tribe, owing to the variety of form assumed by the head and thorax, and the extraordinary horn- like processes with which these parts are sometimes furnished. Such of the species as feed on flowers 186 NATURAL HISTORY OF and living vegetation are frequently adorned with very beautiful and brilliant colours, but those that derive their nourishment from decomposed vegeta- bles are usually of a sombre hue. The larvae of these insects are long, soft, semicy- lindrical worms, divided into thirteen segments in- cluding the head, which is of a scaly texture, and pro- vided with powerful mandibles. The feet are six in number, and placed on the three segments im- mediately behind the head. Nine of the rings or segments have a conspicuous stigmatic opening, or air hole, on each side. The hinder portion of the body is much thicker than the other parts, and is usually curved inwards beneath the belly, even when the insect is in motion. Its movements are conse- quently slow and awkward, and the short scaly feet proving inadequate to support the equilibrium of the arched back, it frequently rolls over, or falls on one side. The general appearance of these grubs will be better understood from the annexed figure of that of the common Cock- chafer. Many of them live among excrementitious substances, or decomposed vegetables ; others consume the roots of plants, and often occasion very great injury to agricultural pro- duce. Before undergoing the metamorphosis by which they are converted into perfect beetles, the COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 187 iarva forms for its protection an oval cocoon, con- structed of earth and the gnawed fragments of other materials, agglutinated by a viscous secretion which exudes from its body. The lamellicorn insects may be regarded as con- stituting two great groups or tribes, corresponding to the two comprehensive genera of Linnaeus, Sca- rabaeus and Lucanus. In the former the antennae terminate in a foliated mass, generally capable of being alternately closed or expanded ; but it is sometimes composed of joints that fit into each other, either in a globular form, or in the shape of a re- versed cone : the mandibles are nearly alike in both sexes, and the males are frequently distinguished by horns or prominences on the head and thorax. The first generic group among the SCARAB^ID^E, which requires to be noticed, has been named ATEUCHUS. The term is probably derived from the Greek privative a, and nu^«f, a weapon or implement of war, in allusion to the head being without horns, contrary to what is observed in most of the allied genera. The antennae consist of nine joints, the three next the apex forming a foliaceous knob. The body is somewhat rounded, and usually rather de- pressed, and there is scarcely any appreciable mark of distinction in the external appearance of the two sexes. The maxillae terminate in a membranous 188 NATURAL HISTORY OF lobe, which is dilated considerably at the tip, and bent inwards. The terminal joint of the labial pal- pi is longer than the others, and nearly cylindric, but slightly thickened in the middle. The external margin of the elytra is straight without any sinuosity, a character which distinguishes the true Ateuchi from the species that constitute the genus Gymnopleurus. There is no perceptible scutellum, nor any opening at the base of the sutural line indicating its place. The four hinder legs are slender, elongate, and fringed with long hairs ; the tibiae are scarcely thick- ened at the tip, where they are truncated obliquely, and armed with a strong acute spine. The dilated anterior part of the head is divided into six teeth, and an elevated process of the cheek (strictly the cantlius) runs nearly across the eye, dividing the upper portion from the lower. The genus, as above defined, contains about twenty-six species. They are confined to the old world, in which however they have an extensive range of distribution. ATEUCHUS SACER.— SACRED EGYPTIAN BEETLE. PLATE X. FJG. 1. Scarabseus sacer, Linn. — Fabrlcius — Olivier^ Entom. pi. 8, fig. 59, a, k The colour is entirely black, and the surface ra- COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 189 tlier shining, except the elytra, which are somewhat obscure. The anterior part of the head is rough with shallow punctures, and there are two small approxi- mating tubercles placed in the middle of the fore- head between the eyes. The thorax is somewhat convex, marked with numerous minute points ante- riorly, and entirely surrounded by a narrow margin, which is crenulated behind. The elytra are usually more obscure than the other parts of the body, and without any other impressions on their surface than a few scattered punctures. The anterior tibiae are armed with four long teeth on their outer edge, and the posterior pair are slightly bent inwards. All of them are pretty thickly clothed with fine hairs. This species is very common in all the southern countries of Europe, especially in those that lie along the shores of the Mediterranean. It likewise occurs in the east, and seems to be diffused over all Africa, from Egypt to the Cape of Good Hope. This renowned insect has been singularly exempt- ed from the obscurity and neglect which have fallen to the lot of most of its tribe. It was one of those "creeping things" to which the Egyptians paid di- vine honours, and appears to have constituted one of the favourite deities of that remarkable people. If it enjoyed an inferior degree of veneration to the snake-devouring Ibis, it certainly far surpassed in virtue the sacred leeks and onions, from which Ju- venal takes occasion to congratulate the nation on account of the number and dignity of its gods : 190 NATURAL HISTOEY OF Porrum et csepe nefas violare, et frangere morsu. O sanctas gentes, quibus hsec nascuntur in hortis Numina ! It was consecrated to the sun, and representations of it are of frequent occurrence in their hieroglyphi- cal writings ; it was likewise sculptured on their rings, bracelets, necklaces, and other ornaments, and even enclosed in their coffins along with the embalmed bodies of the dead. As typical of the luminary which is the fountain of light and heat, and the source of all abundance, it came likewise to be re- garded as the emblem of fertility ; and we are in- formed by Dr Clarke that it is eaten by the Egyp- tian women, even at the present day, under the idea that it is of efficacy for this purpose. As natural objects were regarded with religious veneration in Egypt, either in consequence of their being of uti- lity to the inhabitants,* or because they were con- ceived peculiarly adapted to symbolize some higher nature, and bring it by means of its representative more immediately under the influence of the senses, we are likely to find in one of these causes the rea- son of this species being raised to such distinguished honours. Many of the Scarabaidce or larger kinds of dung- * Ipsi qui irridentur Egyptii nullam belluam, nisi ob aliquam utilitatem, quam ex ea caperent,consecraverunt; velut Ibes max imam vim serpentium conficiunt, &c. C»- cero de Nat, Deorum. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 191 chafers, exhibit some very remarkable instincts in forming a proper nidus or receptacle for their eggs, and providing for the welfare of their progeny. This is witnessed to a certain extent in the common dor or clock ( Geotrupes stercorarius) — an insect whose " drowsy hum" falls so often on our ear during a walk in the country in the stillness of an autumnal twilight — which digs a cylindrical hole in the earth, often of considerable depth, and conveys a small quantity of dung to the bottom, in which she de- posits her eggs. But the habits of the group now under consideration, which is extensively diffused over Africa and the south of Europe, but has no representative in Britain, are greatly more fitted to attract attention. These insects, like our own Geotrupidce, or earth-borers, as the term signi- fies, likewise deposit their eggs in dung ; but each egg is placed in the centre of a small ball or pellet carefully prepared for this purpose. When the pel- let is dry, it has generally to be transported to a considerable distance, that it may be buried in a deep hole previously dug for its reception. To a creature so imperfectly provided with members that can be employed as instruments of prehension, the conveyance of an object of some size must obvi- ously be a task of considerable difficulty. Unable to raise the load from the ground, its only resource is to roll it along the surface ; but instead of using its head for this purpose, as some birds are said to do when obliged to remove their eggs from one 192 NATURAL HISTORY OF place to another,* the beetle has recourse to its op- posite extremity, and pushes the pellet backwards with the tip of its abdomen and hind legs. When the surface of the ground is unequal the labour is greatly increased; both the beetle and its charge sometimes tumble over a declivity, or it may be seen struggling, like the Sisyphus of heathen my- thology, to push its ball to the summit of an emi- nence that obstructs the line of road. But when an obstacle of this kind occurs to an individual, his associates never fail to hasten to his aid, and their united efforts are generally successful. The incessant and arduous labour which these insects undergo, led the Egyptian priests to regard them as symbolical of the labours of Osiris or of the Sun. A singular account of them is given by some ancient authors, particularly H. Apollodorus and P. Valerianus. All these Scarabaei, according to the former of these authors, have thirty fingers, corresponding to the number of days which the sun takes to traverse each sign of the zodiac. There are three distinct kinds of them ; the first, or scara- baeus properly so called, presents the appearance of rays, and has on that account been consecrated to * We have been assured by an intelligent gamekeeper in the south of Scotland, that he has seen pheasants re- move their eggs to a place of safety by rolling them along the ground by means of their head and bill. The same thing has been observed of an Emu or Cassowary kept in the Zoological Gardens in London. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS IPS the sun. All the individuals of this scarabaeus are of the male sex : when the insect wishes to pro- duce others, it seeks for the dung of cattle, and forms it into a ball — the figure of the world ; this it rolls with its hind feet, going backwards, and in the direction from east to west, as the world is so conveyed by its movements. The scarabaeus buries this ball in the earth, where it remains con- cealed for twenty-eight days, a period equal to a lunar revolution, during which the young scarabaeus becomes animated. On the 29th day, which the msect knows to be that of the conjunction of the moon with the sun, and of the birth of the world, it opens the ball and throws it into the water. The animals which then issue from it are the scarabaei. It is for these reasons that the Egyptians, when they wish to designate a being produced by itself, or to express the idea of a birth, a father, the world, £c. represent a scarabaeus. The thirty fingers mentioned in the above ac- count are no doubt the joints of the feet or tarsi, which being five to each of the six feet, amount ex- actly to that number. The rays alluded to are re- presented by the six teeth or angular projections of the head, a character which is often expressed with great accuracy on the Egyptian monuments and en- graved stones. As the male of this species, con- trary to what is observed in the generality of co- prophagous beetles, scarcely differs in external ap- pearance from the female, and appears to share with N 104 NATUBAL HISTORY OF her the labours requisite for the preservation of their race, it is not surprising that the Egyptians, at a period when such erroneous notions prevailed re- garding the generation of the lower animals, should have imagined that there was only one sex, and that they should have preferred to consider it as the one which has most privileges attached to it, or, as grammarians call it, the more worthy gender Admitting the doctrine of spontaneous generation, it was necessary, according to their principles, that the insects should disinter their balls and bring them into contact with water, as that element was conceiv- ed to produce, with the concurrence of heat, all those animals that were without living progenitors.* In more recent times the industrious habits of these little insects appear sometimes to have ex- cited nearly as much admiration as they did in Egypt. In the earliest entomological work pub- lished in Britairi,f remarkable for the extent of its cumbrous erudition, the species of which we speak, or another closely allied to it, forms one of an extensive series of figures, a few of which bear some resemblance to the objects they are designed to represent, and several folio pages are devoted to * See an interesting .memoir by Latreille, in the Ann: du Mut. for 1819, entitled Des Insectes prints ou sculptes sur hs monuments antiques de VEgypte. •f- Moufeti Insectorum sive minimomm animalium Theatrum, London, 1C34 COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 19-") the exposition of its virtues and uses both to our minds and bodies. This invaluable beetle, accord- ing to the author of that work, stimulates us to the acquisition of every good quality ; for although no- thing but a crust, it yet surpasses us in numerous virtues, and invites us to modesty, temperance, la- bour, magnanimity, justice, and prudence: "etiamsi nihil sit nisi crustum, variis tamen virtutibus nos vincit, et ad modestiam, temperantiam, laborem, magnanimitatem, justitiam, prudentiamque incitat atque impellit." It teaches us humility by living contented in its stercorareous abodes, and delight- ing in them more than in the perfume of roses ! So fortunate is it in renewing its youth every year, that there can be little doubt that man himself would willingly share in its privileges ! It is guilty of no crime in using the dung of animals for its own purposes, since agriculturists and others do the same, and probably were led to the practice by ob- serving the scarabseus ! We greatly err if we despise the animal for employing this material ; for so highly was it esteemed in ancient times, that, ac- cording to the testimony of Macro bius, trie term Sterculeus was given to Saturn as an honorary cog- nomen ! &c. — The medical virtues of this admir* able insect are eulogized in a similar strain, and several recipes are given, which are said to have been of wonderful efficacy. These insects are frequently alluded to by ancient authors under the various names of Coprion, Can- 196 NATURAL HISTORY OF tharus, and Heliocantharus. " It should seem from the name," say Messrs Kirby and Spence, " derived from a word signifying an ass, that the Grecian beetle made its pills of asses' dung ; and this is con- firmed by a passage in one of the plays of Aristo- phanes, the Irene, where a beetle of this kind is in- troduced, on which one of the characters rides to heaven to petition Jupiter for peace. The play be- gins with one domestic desiring another to feed the cantharus with some bread, who afterwards orders his companion to give him another kind of bread, made of asses' dung."* Various insects of similar habits are found in dif- ferent quarters of the world, and they form a fa- vourite subject of observation with travellers. One of these abounds in America, where it is known by the name of the Tumble-Dung Beetle. An inte- resting account of its proceedings is given by a wri- ter on Carolina. " I have attentively admired their in- dustry," he says, " and mutual assisting of each other in rolling their globular balls from the place where they made them to that of their interment, which is usually the distance of some yards, more or less. This they perform breech foremost, by raising their hind parts, and forcing along the ball with their hind feet. Two or three of them are sometimes engaged in trundling one ball, which, from meeting with impediments on account of the unevenness of the * Intro, to Eni. vol. »• 255, note. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 19/ ground, is sometimes deserted by them. It is, however, attempted by others with success, unless it happens to roll into some deep hollow or chink, where they are constrained to leave it ; but they continue their work by rolling off the next ball in their way. None of them seem to know their own balls, but an equal care for the whole appears to affect all the community. They form these pellets while the dung remains moist, and leave them to harden in the sun before they attempt to roll them. In their moving of them from place to place, both they and the balls may frequently be seen tumbling about over the little eminences that are in their way. They are not, however, easily discouraged ; and, by repeating their attempts, usually surmount the difficulties. " They find out their subsistence by the excel- lency of their noses, which direct them in their flight to newly fallen dung, on which they imme- diately go to work, tempering it with a proper mix- ture of earth. So intent are they always on their employment, that, though handled or otherwise in- terrupted, they are not to be deterred, but imme- diately on being freed, persist in their work with- out any apprehension of danger. They are said to be so exceedingly strong and active as to move about, with the greatest ease, things that are many times tb"ir own weight. Dr Birchell was supping one evening in a planter's house of North Carolina, when two of them were conveyed, without his 198 NATURAL HISTORY OF knowledge, under the candlestick. A few blows were struck on the table, and, to his great surprise, the candlesticks began to move about, apparently without any agency ; and his surprise was not much lessened when, on taking one of them up, he discovered that it was only a chafer that moved."* "An insect of the size of a May-bug," says another writer, evidently in relation to one of these beetles, " is of the greatest utility in so hot a cli- mate ; it is the scavenger and dustman of the whole country. It labours with indefatigable industry to collect all the filth that might infest the air, and makes small balls of it, which it hides very deep in holes which it has dug in the earth. It breeds in sufficient numbers to keep the town and the villages clean."f The next genus which has been selected to illus- trate the lamellicorn tribe of beetles is named ONTHOPHAGUS, a term that has reference to their habits, being composed of the two Greek words ev0os, dung, and payof, an eater or consumer. It consists of a con- siderable number of species, which are inferior in size to the generality of their dung-devouring confederates, excepting the Aphodii, which form * Catesby's Carolina. f Proyart's History of Loango. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 100 such a prominent group in temperate and northern countries, and compensate their want of bulk by the extent of their numbers. The males of seve- ral of the Onthophagi are strikingly distinguished by two slender horns rising from the hinder part of the head. One of the most remarkable in this respect has been named O. Taurus, from the resemblance these appendages bear, in form and curvature, to the horns of a bull. This will be seen from the annexed figure, which represents a front view of the head. These insects are common both to the new and old world, and extend from the tropics to the north- ern temperate zone. Several kinds likewise inhabit New Holland, where, however, they are by no means of frequent occurrence, although they form the prin- cipal coprophagous group found in that country. The rarity of these insects in New Holland, as Mr Macleay observes, may be regarded as the natural consequence of that great peculiarity of the Austra- lian continent, namely, the want of all large herbi- vorous mammalia, except of the marsupial kind. Ten different species occur in Britain, but the southern part of the country seems to be nearly the limit of their extension northwards, as they become rare in the northern counties of England, and we have heard of no in stance of their occurrence in Scot- land. Like many of their associates, they are ver- 200 NATURAL HISTORY OF nal insects, and their appearance is agreeable, as in- dicating the grateful return of spring. The Onthophagi are known by having the ter- minal joint of the maxillary palpus attenuated at each end, and truncate — the same joint in the labial pair being somewhat kidney-shaped and truncate ; by the short thick body, with the thorax wider than long, and nearly orbicular, with a wide and deep notch in its anterior margin ; and by having the contour of the head entire or slightly emarginate. There is no perceptible scutellum. As in the following ge- nus, the four posterior tibiae are always dilated at their extremities, and nearly in the form of an elon- gate triangle. The sexes are distinguished by some horn-like process or tubercles, which rise from the head or thorax of the male. ONTHOPHA.GUS DILLWYNII. PLATE X. FIG. 2. Onthoph. Dillwynii, Kirly — Stcph. Illus. of British En- tomology, vol. iii. 174, pi. 18, fig. 6. This insect is closely allied to the better known species named O. nuchicornis. It has been found near Gravesend, and in the neighbourhood of Swan- sea, by L. W. Dillwyn, Esq. after whom it was named by Dr Leach. It is of a brassy-black colour, and more or less covered with fine short hairs. The thorax is thickly covered with minute granulations, COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 201 and there are two tubercles towards the middle, and two others, one on each side, near the margin. The elytra are of a dull greyish yellow thickly clouded with black, and marked with longitudinal lines or striae. The under parts of the body and legs are black, slightly tinged with a metallic lustre. The male has an elongate, slightly nutant, horn on the hinder part of the head ; the female has two ele- vated cross ridges, which are somewhat arched. The length of the insect is about three or three and a half lines. The next important genus that presents itself to our notice, was established by Mr Macleay in his valuable work on the lamellicorn Coleoptera, and is named It is distinguished from all the allied genera, ex- cept Onitis, by the structure of the antennae. These organs consist of nine joints, the three last forming a mass of which the basal joint (or the seventh of the whole) is excavated and receives the following one within it, which is partly concealed and nearly of the figure of a horse shoe ; the terminal one is small and in the form of a reversed cup. The ra- dical joint of the labial palpi is larger than the others, and dilated on its inner side. There is no apparent scutellum, but a small opening is perceptible at the base of the sutural line, indicating its place. The 202 NATURAL 'HISTORY OF thorax is very large, and, like the head, usually pre- sents some sexual differences in the form of its ap- pendages. The genus comprehends about fifty large and finely coloured species, which belong exclusively to the tropical regions of the new world. They dig holes in the earth in a diagonal direction, sometimes to the depth of two or three feet. They frequent the dung of quadrupeds, and are often observed to fly about in the evening, producing a rather loud noise. The fine species figured is found in Cayenne, and is named PHAN^US LANCIFER. PLATE X. FIG. 3. Scarabaeus lancifer, Fab. — Linn. — Olivier, Entom. vol. i No. 3, pi. 4, fig. 32. This conspicuous insect is about an inch and a half long, and upwards of an inch broad. The body is very thick and massive, and the half of it at least is occupied by the thorax. The head is black, and armed with a long, recurved, angular horn ; the clypeus or anterior portion is furnished with two distinct projecting teeth. The colour of all the upper side, except the head, is a fine violet, with greenish reflections in certain lights, especially on the elytra. The thorax is deeply excavated or con- cave, and dilated at the sides anteriorly ; the hinder COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 203 part rises into a broad quadrate prominence, which has its sides reflexed, and a pretty deep notch cut out of the middle of its anterior edge, as if to re- ceive the occipital horn when bent backwards. The elytra are rather deeply furrowed, and rough with transverse elevations and tubercles. The under parts are shining black, slightly tinted with violet, and fringed with short hairs. The anterior tibiae have four strong teeth on their outer edge. PHAN^US CARNIFEX. PLATE X. FIG. 4. Scarabaeus carnifex, Fab — Drury's Illus. of Insects^ i. pi. 35, fig. 3, 4, 5 — Olivier, i, p. 135, pi. 6, fig. 46, a, b. In this finely coloured species the head is of a golden green, and armed with a long slender black horn which is curved backwards. The thorax is large, flattened above, and terminates on each side behind in an acute angle ; the sides golden green, the disk bright copper-colour, and rather rough. There is a small impressed mark on each side, rather before the middle. The elytra are of a beautiful green, sometimes glossed with blue ; the surface rather rough, and marked with several raised lines. The under side and thighs are brilliant bronzed green ; the other parts of the leg black. Found in various countries of North America, in consider- able plenty. 204 NATURAL HISTORY OF The genus GEOTRUPES* has antennae with the three last joints dilated and transverse, forming a lamellate club, as in the following figure. The mandibles stand out from the head, and are notched at the apex. The eyes are divided by the margin of the head, and touch the thorax. The latter is as broad as the elytra, and very convex. The elytra are short and oval. Ten different kinds are met with in Britain. That repre- sented is the most common in the northern parts of this country ; it is named GEOTRUPES STERCORARIUS. PLATE X. FIG. 5. Scarabaeus stercorarius, Linn. It is entirely black above, tinted on the margins with violet or brassy : the thorax is without punc- tures on the disk, but has a few impressed points towards the sides, and a short line in the middle behind. The elytra are marked with deep striae, the spaces between which are smooth and somewhat convex. The under side and legs are steel blue, glossed with purple or green in a very beautiful manner. * Derived from y»», the earth, and iwotatus. J) .1. Curculw inri-nit>,\-(init.\'.-^.rtj?'<-n/ui br/t/nieus ^.CalqndrcLJunM COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 239 the sides of the latter white or greenish. The lon- gitudinal stripes vary considerably in tint ; the cen- tral one is generally rose-colour, and the outer one is frequently greenish. The insect occurs in Ja- maica, and others of the West Indian islands. CURCULIO SPHACELATUS. PLATE XXI. FIG. 6. Herlit. Coleopt., vi. pi. 67, %• 12 — Olivier, v. No. 83, pi. 20, fig. 253. The antennae, rostrum, and thorax, are black; the latter, with the sides and four spots on the back, white. The elytra are likewise black, irregularly punctured, and marked with two or three spots, composed of yellowish scales, which are very irre- gular both in form and colour, often running toge- ther and forming large patches. The body beneath, and the legs, are black, more or less covered with white scales. Found in St Domingo, and else- where. CURCULIO LATREILLII. PLATE XXII. FIG. 1. Cyphus Latreillii, Schanhcrr. This beautiful insect is entirely of a light green glossed with golden yellow, and of great brilliancy, 2-40 NATURAL HISTORY OF The thorax has a groove down the middle. The elytra are prominent at the shoulders, marked with punctured lines, and having several rounded tuber- cles which are brownish or golden-yellow. It is a native of Brazil, and, like most of its brilliant allies, is invariably found on trees, principally those of the genus Mimosa. It is named in honour of the cele- brated French entomologist. CURCULIO SEXDECIMPUNCTATUS. PLATE XXII. FIG. 2. Linn, Syst. Nat. p. 618, No. 92 — Fabr. Ent. Sytt. The whole body is of a fine blue, a colour very sel- dom observed in this tribe. The thorax is generally marked with four, sometimes with five black spots, and there are six others on each wing-case, of which two at the suture, a little behind the middle, are somewhat crescent-shaped and united. The under side is blue spotted with black ; the antennae are of the latter colour. A native of South America. CURCULIO MYRMOSARIUS. PLATE XXII. FIG. 3. Rhigus myrmosarius, Schcenherr. Black, densely clothed with long black hair. Head and thorax unspotted ; elytra with a streak COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 241 across the base, and several large spots of reddish yellow on each, two of which approximate at the suture, a little behind the middle, and form a heart- shaped spot. Legs b-ownish. It is found in South America. CURCbiJO BRUNNEUS. PLATE XXII. FIG. 4. The body of this insect, which belongs to the modern genus Rhigus, is entirely reddish brown, and marked with numerous small black spots. The elytra are acute at the apex, and the legs are black. Not having met with any description which could be regarded as applying to this species, we have distinguished it by the above specific name. It was received from Brazil. The genus CALANDRA is known by its nine-joint- ed antennae, inserted at the base of the rostrum, with the two last joints forming a mass. It contains many conspicuous insects, several of which have attracted, the attention of agriculturists by the injury they occasion to corn and other vegetables. The best known in Europe is C. granaria> one of the smallest of the genus, the larva of which takes up its abode in the interior of a grain of corn, and speedily consumes it. Many large and remarkable kinds are found in tropical countries, where they dwell by preference in the interior of monocotyle- 242 NATURAL HISTOET OP donous plants. The most common is C. Palma-* rum, of which the larva, known by the name of ver- palmiste, is esteemed a delicious food. It is so abundant in Guiana, that shortly after a palm-tree is cut down, especially the Maripa palm, which fur- nishes the chou-palmiste, of which a great quantity is consumed in the colony, crowds of these insects may be seen collected upon its stem, and occupied in penetrating into its interior.* The species re- presented is rather larger than the Palm-weevil, and is named CALANDltA HEROS. PLATE XXII. Fie 5 Fair. — Olivier, v. No. 83, pi. 20, fig. 410. The rostrum is black and cylindrical, with a small recurved piece on each side at the apex. The thorax is brownish black, clothed with a velvety pubescence. The elytra are likewise velvety, but of a browner hue than the thorax, much shorter than the abdomen, and slightly striated on the sur- face. The under parts of the body, and the legs, are black, the anterior tibiae somewhat curved on ihe interior edge. It inhabits the East Indies. * Lacordairee. : COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 243 LONGICORNES. One of the most extensive and important families of the tetramerous section has received the above name, on account of the great length of the anten- nae. Many of the species are of large size, and otherwise remarkable for their forms and habits. The larger and typical kinds are found only in the interminable forests of the tropics, where they fre- quent the oldest and largest trees. The larvae live in the interior of the stems, which they perforate in all directions, and hasten the process of decay. In that state they resemble a large white worm, which is destitute of feet, but is furnished with means of locomotion much better adapted to the ha- lts of animals which pass their lives in cylindrical :cavations not much exceeding their own bodies in width. The upper and under sides of most of the segments are covered with small prominences or asperities. When the insect wishes to advance, it contracts its body by bringing the two extremities towards each other, and, fixing its hinder end to the walls of its hole by means of these asperities, it ex- tends the anterior part of its body forwards. This operation is repeated at each successive advance- ment. When the larva has attained its full size, it forms a large cocoon, composed chiefly of saw-dust and gnawed portions of wood, in which it changes into a chrysalis. Before assuming that state, it 244 NATURAL HISTORY 0? never fails to approach the mouth of its hole, that there may be no obstacle to the development and escape of the perfect beetle, which is of much larger size than the larva, and not furnished with instru- ments of equal efficiency for penetrating wood.* These insects lay a considerable number of eggs, which they deposit in the crevices and fissures of trees. They are of an oblong form, and usually of a dirty -yellow colour. Those of some of the larger species are nearly equal in size to the eggs of many of the smaller birds. The following figure on' the left represents those of P.giganteus; but as the specimens from which they are taken have been long preserved, they have no doubt shrunk considerably from their original dimensions. Like the generality of insects that deposit their eggs in holes and narrow fissures, into which the extremity of the body could not readily be intro- duced, the female Prioni are provided with an in- strument which issues from the terminal segment of the abdomen, and forms a canal along which the egg slides in security to the place destined for its reception. This instrument is of a horny consist- ence, and generally bears a few small teeth or angu- lar projections at the point on the outer side, which *Olivier's Entom. iv. p. 4. I'LATH 27, Brazil. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 245 probably serve to render it more steady by adher- ing to the substance, into which it is inserted. The right-hand figure represents this ovipositor as it appears in P. armillatus. The largest and most striking of these insects compose the genus PRIONUS. Their antennae are longer than the head and thorax, and sometimes serrated or pectinated ; whence the generic name, from itpuov, a saw. The terminal lobe of the max- illae is as long as the first two joints of the palpi, and the body is depressed, with the thorax square and spined or dentate on its edges. PRIONUS CERVICORNIS. PLATE XXIII. Olivier, 66, pi. 2, fig, 8, a, b. — Cerambyx cervicornis, Linn. —Merian. Surin., pi. 48.— Macrodontia cervicornis, Lepel. et Serv. Although this insect is surpassed in size by one or two other species of Prioni, it is the most re- markable of the larger kinds, owing to its conspicu- ous projecting mandibles, and the curious markings of the elytra. The prevailing colour of the head and thorax is rust-brown; the former bears two elevated longitudinal lines, and the latter has three strong acute spines on each side, the two anterior ones being rather remote from each other, and the margin between them dentate. The mandibles of- 246 KATURAL HISTORY OP ten exceed the length both of the head and thorax they are strong, and bent towards each other, especi- ally at the tip; their internal edge is deeply serrated, and one of the teeth near the middle is considerably longer than the rest : they have likewise a strong tooth or salient angle on the outer edge towards the ante- rior extremity. The elytra are dark brown, varie- gated with numerous longitudinal stripes of reddish yellow, which are often interrupted, and united with each other. The under parts of the body, and the legs, are of a ferruginous colour ; and the latter are without spines. This species varies much in size, some of the specimens which we have seen measur- ing upwards of five inches, while others do not ex- ceed two and three quarters. It is an inhabitant of Brazil and Cayenne, where it is universally known by the name of Mouche scieur de long. '£ his ap- pellation refers to a very peculiar habit which the insect is recorded to practise. It is said to seize a branch of a tree or shrub between its long and powerful mandibles, and to fly round the enclosed twig till it has succeeded in sawing it off. " Al- though I have not myself been a witness of this oc- currence," says M. Lacordaire, " I am inclined to believe it, both because I have been assured of its truth by individuals worthy of credit, and because I have seen on several occasions branches cut in the manner alluded to, and bearing the evident marks of mandibles which must have belonged to an insect of the size of this species." A like prao I'l.ATK 1>4. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 247 tice has been noticed in a large species of Oncy de- res found in Brazil ; and it is conjectured that simi- lar observations will soon be made in relation to others of the long-horned beetles. The larva of F. cervicornis is said to live in the wood of the Gossampinus, and is frequently used as an article of food. PRIONUS CORTICINUS. PLATE XXIV. FIG. 1. The body of this species is rather depressed. The head and antennae are brown, the former having a deep furrow between the eyes, and a dense tuft of hair in front covering the base of the mandibles. The thorax is brown, having a few tubercles in the middle, and several spines on the sides, of which that next the hinder angle is longest. The elytra are elongate, and nearly of equal width throughout their whole length ; they are of a brown colour, and have a small spine at the apex of each. The un- der side of the body, and the legs, are brown. It is a native of Cayenne. The tribe of Cerambycid& bears a considerable resemblance to the preceding in the general ap- pearance of the body; but they differ in having mandibles of ordinary size, and nearly alike in the two sexes. The eyes are notched on the inner side, and partly surround the base of the antennae ; — and 248 NATURAL HISTORY OF the latter are at least as long as the body. The upper lip is very large, and occupies the anterior portion of the head. This tribe is of great extent, but a very small proportion of the species occur in Britain, their characteristic localities being in warm countries. They are much esteemed by collectors for their handsome proportions, and the beautiful combination of colours with which many are adorn- ed. Some are remarkable for emitting a strong odour of roses, especially that named moschatus, which occurs in considerable abundance on willow- trees in the vicinity of London. In C. phyllopus, a native of Brazil, this scent is so strong that it is felt in walking through the woods to a great dis- tance. They are usually found in woods and on the trunks of trees, being very rarely seen on flow- ers, and they appear to derive their chief nourish- ment from the sap that exudes from the stems. The species figured as an example of this tribe is named LOPHONOCERUS BARBICORNIS. PLATE XXIV. FIG. 2. Cerambyx barbicornis, Olivier, iv. No. 67, pi. 7, fig. 48.— Linn. Fab. This genus is chiefly distinguished by the circum- stance from which it derives its name,* viz. the * From A00«, a tuft, and x^ COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 249 fascicles or tufts of hair with which stvera of the ii'-ierniediate joints of the antennae are garnished. The species represented has the five lowest joints thickly clothed with these hairs, which are of a black colour; the apex of the joints and the six naked ones e; She extremity are yellow. The head and thorax are also yellow, the latter having a few spots of black on the sides, which are armed with a strong spine and several tubercles. The elytra are varie- gated with black and reddish yellow. The middle of the abdomen is yellow, and the legs are entirely of that colour. It is a native of Cayenne, and not of Asia, as erroneously stated by Linnaeus and Fab- ricius. The next important tribe of the long-horned beetles that presents itself to our notice, is that named LAMIARI^, in which the head is nearly ver- tical, the palpi almost filiform, and terminating ir an oval joint, which tapers to a point. The outer lobe of the under aws is narrowed at the extremity, and curved upon the inner one. The most re- markable insect belonging to the tribe is that named 250 NATURAL HISTORY OF ACROCINUS LONGIMANUS, oa HARLEQUIN BEETLE. PLATE XXV. FIG. 1. Cerambyx longimanus, Linn — Prionus lorrgimanus, Fal. —Olivier, iv. No. 66, pi. 3, fig. 12, pi. 4, fig. 12. It is distinguished generically by having a move- able tubercle on each side of the thorax terminating in a spine. This is certainly one of the most singular of coleopterous insects, whether we regard the propoi - tionsof its parts, or the curious colouring and variega- tion of the body. The figures on the elytra, formed of strongly contrasted colours, are so regularly drawn that they may be conceived to be the result of some artificial process. As the wings of several moths and butterflies are inscribed with characters repre- senting with great accuracy letters of various lan- guages, and figures corresponding with several dates of the Christian era, these grotesque delineations in like manner seem to resemble, as has been remarked ot them, certain hieroglyphic symbols pourtrayert by the mysterious hand of nature. Its party-coloured dress has caused the insect to be very generally known by the name of Harlequin Beetle. The ground colour is black, and the whole sur- face is clothed with a dense silky pubescence. The antenna? are about twice the length of the body, and of a black colour, except the base of the joints, which COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 251 is greyish. The head is ornamented with two tri- angular patches of red, and two lines of the same hue are placed in the centre of the thorax, which converge in front: from each side of the thorax behind there projects a strong spine, which can be moved in different directions at the will of the in- sect ; and two others, of small size, and incapable of motion, issue from the back, one towards each side. The elytra are variegated with undulated lines and angular figures of red and grey : towards the base the surface is pretty thickly covered with impressed points, interspersed with small black shining tuber- cles ; and each elytron bears an acute spine on the shoulder, 'and two others at the hinder extremity. The under parts are likewise covered with silky pubescence, but it is of a grey colour. The thighs are smooth and black, each of them surrounded by a red ring near the apex. The anterior thighs and tibiae are of great length, the latter much incurved at the tip, where they are armed with a spine, and covered with small points and granulations on the under side ; tLese parts in the other legs are smooth, and more or less ash-coloured. This insect is of fre- quent occurrence in Brazil, Guiana, and other tropi- cal countries of America. It is known to the natives by the name of Mouche bagasse, a term taken from a free which has lately been described under the botanical appellation of Bagassa Guyanensis. The wood of this tree is of a bright yellow, and when it is felled, there issues from it a white viscid juice of 252 NATURAL HISTORY OP a peculiar and penetrating odour, of which the in- sects are so fond that they seldom fail to be attract- ed by it. The negroes, who often employ them selves in searching f6r the rarer and more beautiful kinds of insects, that they may dispose of them to collectors, avail themselves of this propensity, and sometimes cut down these trees, as the most ready means of obtaining a supply of beetles. It is gene- rally found on the trunk or at the bottom of trees, rarely under the bark, and never on the leaves. Its motions are so sluggish, that it may be said to drag itself along rather than walk. It occasionally takes wing on the approach of evening, but its flight is slow and unsteady, scarcely appearing un- der the guidance of the animal, as it strikes against any object that happens to be in the way, and falls to the ground. A rustling sound accompanies its flight, and it often betrays its retreat by a rather loud noise, which is produced by the friction of the thorax. It varies greatly in size and colour. Spe- cimens from the interior of the country are usually of a much paler tint than such as are obtained in the neighbourhood of Rio Janeiro, and other places towards the coast.* The genus Lamia, from which the present tribe derives its name, is constituted by a variety of finely- coloured species, some of which are of considerable size. They are extensively diffused over the earth, * Anal, des Sciences Naturelles, torn. xxi. 180. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 253 and a considerable number occur in Europe. Only two kinds appear to inhabit Britain. LAMIA SUBOCELLATA. PLATE XXV. FIG. 2. Cerambyx subocellatus, Olivier, iv. No. 67, p. 69, pi. 2, fig. 12,o, 6. The colour of the body is brownish black, and it is covered with dense silky pubescence. A broad stripe of yellowish white runs along the middle o~ the head, and is continued down the centre of the thorax ; the latter is armed with an acute spine on each side. The elytra are marked with numerous rounded spots of yellowish white, which are vari- able in size. We received the specimen figured from Brazil. LAMIA ORNATA. > PLATE XXVI. FIG. 1. Cerambyx ornatus, Olivier, iv. No. 67, pi. 4, fig. 24, fl, ft. The head of this pretty insect is golden yellow, glossed with green about the eyes, and having two black lines anteriorly. The thorax is of the same colour as the head, and has two narrow cross bands of black: the hinder margin green. The elytra are yellow, marked with regular patches of black 254 NATUEAL HISTORY 0* which are surrounded with green ; the suture and hinder extremity of the elytra are of the latter co- lour. The middle of the abdomen and the legs are glossed with green. It is said to be a native of Africa. LAMIA FORMOSA. PLATE XXVI. FIG. 2. Olivier, iv. No. 67, pi. 20, fig. 153. In this insect the head is black, with the front rust-red, the thorax black, having a large red spot on each side ; the elytra are likewise black, with two broad bands of red interrupted at the suture, and a few white punctures towards the hinder ex- tremity, which is itself red. The legs are black, spotted with white at the base. LAMIA TRICINCTA. PLATE XXVI. FIG. 4. This very fine species is about an inch and a half in length. The antennae are steel-blue, with dense tufts of hair on the third, fourth, and fifth joints. The head and thorax are covered with short de- pressed hairs of a brassy green or bluish tint ; the latter has two small tubercles on each side. The elytra srje similar in colour to the thorax, the back COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 255 usually somewhat shining, and the whole surface is '"lickly punctured : there are three remote bands of black composed of soft hairs, and having the . ap- pearance of velvet, the hairs of the anterior band longer than in the others, and frequently forming a considerable tuft towards the suture. The un- der side of the body and the lower half of the thighs are closely covered with depressed hairs of a deep and beautiful red ; the other parts of the leg are steel-blue, glossed with green above. An exten- sive series of specimens have lately been procured from Java. Of the last tribe of the long-horned beetles, termed LEPTURID^E, the example figured is named DESMOCEKUS CYANEUS. PLATE XXVI. FIG. 3. Stenocorus cyaneus, Fair. — Olivier, iv. No. 69, pi. 3, fig. 26. It is of a dark-blue colour, somewhat shining, roughly punctured and pubescent. The head has a longitudinal groove, and there is a similar im- pression down the centre of the thorax ; the latter is in the shape of a truncated cone, with the hin- der angles very acute, and almost forming a spine. The anterior half of the elytra is yellow, the other dark blue, with violet reflections. The under parts of the body, and the legs, are dark blue. It is said to inhabit India and other eastern countries of Asia, 256 NATURAL HISTORY OF The fifth family of tetramerous beetles, accord- ing to the system of Latreille, comprehends the ge- nus .SAGRA, which has the palpi terminated by an oval joint, the thorax cylindrical, and the antennae filiform, with the four lowest joints shorter than the others. The hinder thighs are very thick, es- pecially in one of the sexes. The species are con- fined to Africa, the island of Ceylon, and China. SAGRA BUQUETII. PLATE XXVII. Lesson's Illustration* de Zoologie, pi. 30. The male is about thirteen lines long and six broad. The surface of the body is perfectly smooth and polished, of a brilliant green, with purple and coppery reflections of the highest resplendency, especially on the elytra. The hinder thighs are remarkably long and thick, and armed beneath with a few acute teeth ; the hinder tibiae are garnished with long rust-red hairs. The female does not ex- ceed eleven lines in length. The body is not so much narrowed behind as that of the male ; the thighs of the hinder legs are oval, and the tibiae naked. It inhabits Cochin China, and is probably synonymous with S. Boisduvalii (Dejean), of which we have seen a multitude of specimens from Java. The CASSID^B, or Tortoise-beetles as they are sometimes called, are chiefly remarkable for a habit ri. ATI; U 4. echinatn* />f;-rff>?Yifrt . 257 \vhich they practise in common with several allied kinds, that of covering their bodies, when larvae, with their own excrements. In order to enable them to do this with facility, they are provided with a forked process issuing from the anal extremity, which can be turned upwards, and laid along the back. Upon this they deposit their excrement, and support the load in such a manner as to cover the body. This singular covering is probably de- signed to shelter the tender body of the larva from the air and sun, and at the same time to conceal it from birds. The outer shell of the perfect beetle considerably overlaps the body, and the legs can be drawn completely within it. The species are very numerous, and many of them highly ornamen- tal, as will be seen from the adjoining figures. CASSIDA BICORNIS. PLATE XXVIII. FIG. 1. Fair. Ent. Sytt — Olivier, vi. No. 97, pi. 4, fig. 59. The colour of this insect is bluish green, except the antennae, which are black with the radical joints bronzed. The thorax has two or three small im- pressions ; and the elytra, which are punctured, have a long obtuse spine projecting sidewise from each shoulder. It occurs in Cayenne, Surinam, and other parts of America. 258 NATURAL HISTORY OT CASSIDA SCALARIS. PLATE XXVIII. FIG. 2. Fdbr. Syst. Eleuth — Olivier, vi. No. 97, pi. 4, fig. 94. Thorax rounded anteriorly, yellow, with a portion of the middle red, in which are two yellow points. The scutellum is red. The elytra are pale yellow, with three broad longitudinal black stripes, of which that on the suture is broken into square spots, and the lateral ones have each a square piece separated from the apex. The under parts are yellow. Said to be found in Sumatra. CASSIDA MICANS. PLATE XXVIII. FIG. 3. Fdbr. Syst. Eleuth Olivier, vi. No. 97, pi. 5, fig. 83. In this insect the antennae are yellow, with the two last joints black ; the thorax yellow, and nearly transparent ; the elytra yellowish brown on the disk, a stripe of that colour extending to each of the an- terior angles, and two others from the hinder ex- tremity across the dilated margin, which, as well as the under parts of the body, is pale yellow. Found in Java. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 259 CASSIDA ECHINATA. PLATE XXVIII. FIG. 4. Fabr. Syst. Ekuth — Olivier, vi. No. 97, pi. 5, fig. 86. This curious species has the thorax very much dilated on each side into a thin foliaceous membrane, which is dentate round the margin. A similar ex- panded portion, likewise dentate on the edge, sur- rounds the elytra ; the latter have the anterior half green, and the hinder part reddish brown. The under side of the body is dull yellowish red. Like the preceding species, it is a native of Java. CASSIDA PERFORATA. PLATE XXVIII. FIG. 5. Fabr. Syst. Entom. — Olivier, vi. No. 97, pi. 4, fig. 08. The colour is yellowish red, dull above, but shin- ing beneath. The thorax is short and transverse, the sides drawn out into a kind of spine. The ely- tra are nearly triangular, the basal angles advanced on each side of the thorax in the form of an acute point ; and there is an oval perforation observable near the base of each. It is found in the tropical parts of America. 260 NATURAL HISTORY OP CASSIDA LUCTUOSA. PLATE XXVIII. FIG. 6. Olivier, vi. No. 97, pi. 4, fig. 54. Head and thorax black, the latter short, and ter- minating in an acute point at each of the hinder angles. The elytra are likewise black, with all the outer edge, a small portion of the suture, and a short line near the middle of each, reddish ; the un- der side and legs are also of that colour. It is found at Surinam. CASSIDA SIX-PUSTULATA. PLATE XXIX. FIG. I. Fabr. Syst. Entom — Olivier, 97, pi. 3, fig. 36. This well-known species is bluish green above, and shining black beneath. The elytra are gibbous on the back, the surface thickly punctured, and each of the wing-cases marked with three spots of red. It is found in Brazil, where it is rather common. ALTJRNUS MAK INATUS. PLATE XXX. FIG. 1. The Alurni have antennae of equal thickness PLATE 29. V PLATE 30. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 261 throughout their whole length, with the second oint shorter than the following, and they are di» rected forwards ; the body is oblong ; the head not concealed within the thorax, and the mandibles are furnished with only two or three teeth. A. margi- natus is very common in Brazil, and always frequents the leaves of plants. It is of a dull brownish-black colour above, with the sides of the thorax, outer edge of the elytra, and the suture, margined with blood-red. The head, and all the under parts of the body, are likewise of that colour, the apex of the thighs, the tibiae, and tarsi, being black. CLYTHRA HIRTA. PLATE XXIX. FIG. 2. Fabr. Syst. Ekuth — Olivier, No. 96, pi. 2, fig. 18. The head, thorax, and scutellum, as well as all the under parts of the body, are blue, and covered with rather long ash-coloured hairs. The elytra are brownish red, with three black spots on each, one on the shoulder and two others behind the middle* It occurs in Barbary. 262 KATURAL HISTORY OP CHLAMYS MONSTROSA. PLATE XXTX. FIG. 3. Fabr. Ent. Syst — Olivier, vi. No. 96, pi. 1, fig. 1, a, b. In this singular genus, the thorax rises in the middle into a tuberculated protuberance, and is produced behind in the form of a triangle ; the su- ture of the elytra, except at the base, is armed with little teeth, alternating with each other like the cogs of a mill-wheel j* and in certain species the palpi are forked. A considerable number of these insects are known, and all of them are proper to the new world. They are found on leaves, over which they walk very slowly, and simulate death when attempt- ed to be seized. They appear never to make use of their wings, but are usually observed adhering to a leaf, and continuing quite stationary. When in this posture, they bear a much greater resemblance to a piece of withered fungus, or some gelatinous substance shrivelled by the sun, than to any living creature. The species figured is about five or six lines long, of a uniform violet blue, the thorax with a somewhat silky gloss, and the elytra much wrin- kled, tuberculated, and punctured. The segments of the abdomen are drawn within each other like the tubes of a telescope, and the penultimate one has a deep rounded impression in the middle. • Introd. to Ent. iii. 597- COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 263 EUMOLPUS CUPKEUS. PLATE XXX. FIG. 2. The Eumolpi differ from the allied genera in hav- ing mandibles of ordinary size, and the second joint of the antennae much shorter than the following. The species are pretty numerous, and many of them are insects of great beauty. They are usually found on the leaves of plants, sometimes associated in con- siderable numbers. This is the case particularly with E. fulgidus, one of the largest kinds and the most common in Brazil. The species represented is a native of America. The head, thorax, and scutellum, are greenish blue, of a very beautiful tint, especially when moistened. The elytra are closely but distinctly punctured, of a rich coppery red glossed with green. The under side and legs are bluish green, the latter somewhat pubescent to- wards the foot, The extensive genus CHRYSOMELA is character- ised by the body being ovate and very convex, — by the antennae thickening slightly towards the apex, — and by the dilated and somewhat hatchet- shaped terminal joint of the maxillary palpi. The name, which signifies an apple of gold, has been suggested by the rounded form and rich colouring of the species. In the last particular, they are not inferior to any of our native insects many of them 264 NATURAL HISTORY OF being embellished with agreeable combinations of sc'arlet, azure, and golden green, with a high de- gree of lustre. They are strictly herbivorous ; and as many of them are gregarious in their habits, they sometimes occasion much injury to herbaceous plants, by stripping them of their leaves. About thirty diiferent kinds inhabit this country ; of these perhaps the most beautiful is named CHRYSOMELA CEREALIS. PLATE XXX. FIG. 3. Linn. Syst. Nat. — Fair. Syst. Entom — Donovan's Brit. In- sects, iv. pi. 115. It is of a brilliant coppery red above, with parallel stripes of blue along the thorax and elytra. The under side of the body and the antennae are usually brownish, at other times inclining to purple. The wings are of a fine scarlet colour. It is found on the common broom, and is not uncommon in some parts of the Continent. In this country it is very scarce, and was long regarded as a doubtful native ; but the recent occurrence of several examples in Wales has removed all uncertainty on this point. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 265 CHRYSOMELA FASTUOSA. PLATE XXX. FIG. 4. Linn. Fair.— Donovan's Brit. Insects, vi. pi. 194. Brilliant golden green, with the suture and a stripe along each elytron violet blue. The length is about three lines. It is found on the White Dead Nettle (Lamium album), and occurs not un- frequently both in England and Scotland. DORYPHORA TESSELLATA. PLATE XXIX. FIG. 4. Olivier, v. No. 91, pi. 1, fig. 6. This genus is well discriminated from the other chrysomelinae by the character which has suggested the name,* viz. the long conical horn projecting from the breast. The species are peculiar to South America, in some countries of which they are much more numerous than the chrysomelae properly so called. They are usually observed walking slowly on the leaves of plants, and they permit themselves to fall to the ground when one approaches. When handled they discharge from the mouth a yellow liquor of a foetid smell. The species above refer- * From 3«{vf dg«f , a fike-bearer. 266 NATURAL HISTORY OF red to, is very convex, smooth, and glossy. The head and thorax are glossy black, with a brassy lus- tre, and without punctures. The elytra are punc- tured, of a yellow colour, with five cross rows of large quadrate black or brown spots, that next the apex consisting of only two. The under side and legs, as well as the outer margins and suture of the elytra, are black. The length is nearly nine lines. (EDIONYCHIS CINCTA. PLATE XXX. FIG. 5. CEdionychis is one of the sub-genera into which the extensive genus Haltica of Linnaeus has re- cently been divided. The species are distinguish- ed from most other tetramerous beetles, by the thickened hinder thighs, by which they are enabled to leap to a considerable height into the air. Most of them are of small size, but they are finely co- loured, and very destructive in their habits. The species named cincta is of a yellow colour on the head, thorax, and scutellum. The elytra are violet blue, shining, with a band of white across the mid- dle, which widens at the suture. The under side and antennae are pale yellowish red, the legs being of a similar colour, except the hinder thighs, which are bluish. It occurs in St Domingo. The only remaining family of the tetramerous beetles that requires to be noticed, is named CLA- COLEOPTEBOUS INSECTS. 267 VIPALPI, on account of the large size of the termi- nal joint of the maxillary palpi. It includes only a few genera, some of which consist of small insects with a hemispherical body, which they have the power of contracting into a ball. The larger kinds, which do not possess this property, are chiefly re- ferrible to the genus Erotylus of Fabricius. The latter well exemplify the distinctive character of the family, as the last joint of the maxillary palpi is un- usually large, transverse, and attached by the middle to the stalk of the palpus, bearing considerable re- semblance to a hammer. The species are nume- rous, amounting to nearly one hundred and thirty ; and they occur chiefly in the tropical countries of America, if indeed they are not confined to these regions. They are said to frequent leaves, and are observed flying about in the woods during the day. They are solitary in their habits, with the exception of E. sphacelatus (Fab.), which is usually found con- gregated in considerable numbers on the trunks of fallen trees. The species figured is not rare. It is named EROTYLUS HISTRIO. PLATE XXIX. Fio. 6. Fabr. Enl. Syst — Olivitr, v. No. 89, pi. 2, fig. 12, a, b. It is about an inch long ; the head, antennae, and thorax black ; the elytra, which are very much ele- 268 NATURAL HISTORY OF vated in the middle, are likewise black, with irre- gular bands formed of yellow confluent spots ; two of these spots, one on the shoulder of each elytron, and another at the apex, are reddish ; the surface is marked with dark impressed points, which form ir- regular lines anteriorly. The under side and legs are black. The markings vary much, in some in- stances the black bands on the elytra being almost obliterated. SPHENISCUS EROTYLOIDES, PLATE XXIX. FIG. 6. Kirly, Linn. Trans, xii. pi. 22, fig. 4. This genus was established by Mr Kirby on an insect from Brazil, very closely related to Helops. The head and thorax are black and shining, the latter sparingly punctured. The elytra are very gibbous in the centre, marked with punctured lines, of a pale-yellow colour spotted with black, and having a broad band over the middle, and the apex black. The under side and legs are likewise black. The figure of this insect has been accidentally placed among the tetramerous insects, but it belongs to the heteromerous section, as will be seen from the num ber of joints in the tarsi. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 269 The fourth general division of the Coleoptera, named TRIMERA, includes the kinds with three joints in all the tarsi. As an example of this division, which is comparatively of limited extent, we have figured a beautiful species of the well-known genus Coccinella. COCCINELLA VIGINTIDUO-PUNCTATA. PLATE XXX. FIG. 6. Donovan, Brit. Insects. It is entirely of a light-yellow colour, having five black spots on the thorax, and eleven on each ely- tron. It is of frequent occurrence in England. UNIVERSITY THE END. I £8685 HE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY