AY N \ \ AY N ‘s 2 Ww S W IRA N lef J © > wists Luray Z 2 NUL ¥ Ute Engraved) er TARR NS SOW, see Ma : ; Uk Na) fy) By “Ubrastic-¢ _—_ ens: ulminans & Curculio Splend EDINBURGH: WAHLLIZARS. LONDON, SAMUEL HIGHLEY 32.FLEET STREET. DUBLIN, W. CURRY JUNE & C° tes sm “tts. oo? Me et - - 5 (Sa = 2 ,\23 ‘eF bee NATURALIfTS. LIBRARY. EDITED BY SIR WILLIAM JARDINE, BART., F.RwS.E., F.L.8., ETC., ETC. VORA: ny ENTOMOLOGY. BEETLES. BY JAMES DUNCAN, M.W.S., BTC. EDINBURGH: W. H. LIZARS, 3, ST. JAMES’ SQUARE. LONDON: HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1852. a te: rey Yt RAR WALOIAT TAI MEV Py eR me VE ION i 74 ES oe eee eke cie:e ot ht O Wer ht See ct ob Teer, cay fa “ CTE 2 FE te hers et I a mc ee maids nema atm dtl Sa i ‘ ; . = 4 < THE WAAL RA Don tS TO rev OF BEETLES. ILLUSTRATED BY THIRTY-TWO PLATES, NUMEROUS WOOD-CUTS, WITH MEMOIR AND PORTRAIT OF RAY. BY JAMES DUNCAN, MEMBER OF THE WERNERIAN SOCIETY, ETC. EDINBUGRH: | W. H. LIZARS, 3, ST. JAMES’ SQUARE. LONDON: HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1852. ? ice ; ‘ inl a: ae is a ee eon “Ya. a2 i 2 eee . fei bees @iXk Wa: ach. « " a5 eae ac #Ewat. te =O VETER RAS paent us = Tac at es * CONTENTS. PAGE MEMOIR OF Ray P ; 4 17 Natural History of Calaoptarous Tnsects : 71 PENTAMERA. Cicindela aurulenta. Plate I. Fig.l. - . 117 Anthia decemgutiata. Plate I. Fig. 2. ees & | Procerus Tauricus, Plate I. Fig. 3. J 122 Carabus Hispanus. Plate I. Fig.4. . . 124 Carabus auratus. Plate II. Fig. 1. ; 125 Carabus clathraius. Plate II. Fig. 2. . ah .126 Tefius Megerlet. Plate Il. Fig. 3. . : 127 Calosoma sycophanta. Plate III. Fig. 1. «+. 429 Elaphrus riparius. Plate III. Fig. 2. q 130 Mormoluce phyllodes. Plate III. Fig. 3. - woe Dytiscide. Dutiscus : : ‘ 135 Dutiscus dimidiatus, Plate IV. Fig. 1. 2a 137 Gurinus natator. Plate IV. Fig. 2. P 140 Cyclous vittatus. Plate IV. Fig. 3. ; 2, 12 Huydrous piceus. Plate IV. Fig. 4. ; 144 Brachelytra. Staphylinus erythrurus. Plate V. Fig. 1. . 148 Xantholinus fulgidus. Plate V. Fig.2. . 149 Bolitobius atricapillus. Plate V. Fig. 3. . 150 Zirophorus exaratus. Plate V. Fig. 4. . 152 CONTENTS. PAGE Serricornes. Buprestis chrysis. Plate VI. Fig. 1. . .) ohas Buprestis sternicornis. Plate VI. Fig. 2. . 156 - Buprestis bicolor. Plate VI. Fig.3. . > 37 Buprestis amena. Plate VI. Fig. 4. 3 158 Elater noctilucus. Plate VII. Fig. 1. . vie’ 361 Elater porcatus. Plate VII. Fig. 2. ; 167 Hlater lineatus. Plate VII. Fig.3. . . x68 Elater suturalis. Plate VII. Fig. 4. : 169 Elater distinctus. Plate VII. Fig. 5. . -. ajo Elater melanocephalus. Plate VIII. Fig. 1. 17] Lampyris Italica. Plate VIII. Fig. 2. > oalne Lampyris Latreillai. Plate VIII. Fig. 3. . 175 Lycus festivus. Plate VIII. Fig.4. . -. so Malachius marginellus. Plate VIII. Fig. 5. 177 Priocera variegata. Plate VIII. Fig. 6. ... wae Clavicornes. Necrophorus humator. Plate IX. Fig. 1. . 180 Necrodes littoralis. Plate IX. Fig. 2. . . I18l Silpha quadripunctata. Plate IX. Fig. 3. 182 Anthrenus scrophularie. Plate IX. Fig.4. . 183 Hister reniformis. Plate IX. Fig. 5. ‘ 184 Lamellicornes. Ateuchussacer. Sacred Egyytian Beetle. Plate X. Fig. 1. ; . 188 Onthophagus Dillwynii. Plate X. Fig. 2. . 200 Phaneus lancifer. Plate X. Fig.3. . = wyeue Phaneus carnifex. Plate X. Fig. 4. : 203 Geotrupes stercorarius. Plate X. Fig. 5. . 204 Scarabeus Hercules. Plate XI. . : 207 Scarabeus Tityus. Plate XII. : 2 F208 Scarabeus Atlas. Plate XIII. : : 209 Scarabeus macropus. Plate XIV. Fig.l. . 210 Chrysophora chrysochlora. Piate XIV. Fig.2. 211 Rutela pulchella. Plate XV. Fig. 1. i 212 Macraspis fucata. Plate XV. Fig. 2. . sue eb CONTENTS, PAGE Melolontha Fullo. Plate XV. Figs.3and4 . 214 Goliathus magnus. Plate XVI. . : 216 Cetonia fascicularis. Plate XVII. Fig.1. . 218 Cetonia Macleayi. Plate XVII. Fig.2. . 219 Cetonia discoidea. Plate XVII. Fig. 3. a7 220 Cetonia Australasie. Plate XVII. Fig. 4 ib. Gymnetis nervosa. Plate X VII. Fig. 5. p22) Gymnetis marmorea. Plate XVII. Fig. 6. 222 Chiasognathus Chiloensis.. Plate X VIII. Fig. 1. 223 Tucanus cervue, or Stag Beetle. Plate X VIII. Fig. 2. 224 HETEROMERA. Horia maculata. Plate XIX. Fig. 1. 4 227 Meloe variegatus. Plate XIX. Fig. 2. ib. Cantharis vesicatoria, or Blister Beetle. Plate XIX. Fig. 3. : . F : Cantharis Nuttalli. Plate XIX. Fig. 4. oF 9350) TETRAMERA. Apoderus longicollis. Plate XX. Fig. 1. . 232 Apoderus gemmatus. Plate XX. Fig. 2. cae, Apoderus rujicollis. Plate XX. Fig.3. . 233 Rynchites populi. Plate XX. Fig. 4. . ers! Rynchites pubescens. Plate XX. Fig. 5. . ib. Rynchites collaris. Plate XX. Fig. 6. . 235 Brentus anchorago. Plate XXI. Fig.1. . ib. Rhina Barbirostris. Plate XXI. Fig. 2. a 236 Curculio Cuvierti. Plate X XI. Fig.3. . 237 Curculio Geoffroy. Plate X XI. Fig. 4. 5 ES Curculio vittatus. Plate XXI. Fig.5. . ib. Curculio sphacelatus. Plate XXI. Fig.6. . 2389 Curculio Latreillit. Plate XXII. Fig. 1. ib Curculio seadecimpunciatus. 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. wo ae Longicornes. Prionus cervicornis. Plate XXIII. : 245 CONTENTS. Prionus corticinus. Plate XXIV. Fig.l. . 247 Lophonocerus barbicornis. Plate XXIV. Fig. 2. 248 Acrocinus longimanus, or Harlequin Beetle. Pistesen Vo ies. : 2p Lamia subocellata. Plate XXV. Fig. 2. . 253 Lamia ornata. Plate XXVI. Fig. 1. —— Lamia formosa. Plate XX VI. Fig. 2. 2 254 Lamia tricincta. Plate XX VI. Fig. 4. 5 “ab. Desmocerus cyaneus. Plate XX VI. Fig. 3. 255 Sagra Buquetit. Plate XX VII. : . 256 Cassida bicornis. Plate XXVIII. Fig. 1. 25 Cassida scalaris. Plate XXVIII. Fig.2. . 2858 Cassida micans. Plate XXVIII. Fig.3. . ib. Cassida echinata. Plate XXVIII. Fig.4. . 289 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. CEidionychis cincta. Plate XXX. Fig. 5. . 266 Erotylus histrio. Plate XXIX. Fig. 5. se TF | Spheniscus erotyloides. Plate XXIX. Fig.6. 268 TRIMERA. Coccinella “odie lala tai Plate XXX. Fig. 6 : : : 269 PoRTRAIT OF Ray ‘ : ; - 2 Vignette Title-page. Buprestis fulminans and Curculio splendens . : : 3 In all Thirty-two Plates in this Volume. 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 appeilations of ‘“‘ Father of Natural History,” “ Aristotle of England,” and the “ Linnzus 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 MEMOIR OF RAY. Joun 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 ix 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 unprofitably, 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 DSI “Fr MEMOIR OF RAY. 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 of the college, having been appointed in succession, Prelector 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 RAY. pH 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 Physico-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, in 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 RAY. 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 RAY. 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 unknown 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- gus Plantarum circa Cantabrigiam nascentium, which was published in 1660. 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 RAY. 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 is 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 shal] 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 RAY. 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 Britannicarum 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 Jtineraries. 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 RAY. 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 (1s. 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.130 sterling. They make strangers that come to visit it Burgesses of the Busse, 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 Willisel that he found none. The southern division of the country bears so much resemblance to England in all the circumstances that seem fo 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 Rays 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 inatub. 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 the fresh air. The Scots cannot endure to hear their country or countrymen MEMOIR OF RAY. 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 hew they could contrive to make it so bad. They use much pottage made of coal-wort, which they call eal, 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 vats, but rarely wheat and rye. We observed little or no fallow grounds in Scotland; some layed 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 smoaky cottage clad like a gentleman.”* * Itineraries, p. 186. 30 MEMOIR OF RAY. 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 Wii- 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, but MEMOIR OF RAY, oD 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 had found at any time growing wild in England, not in order to the present publishing of them, but 32 MEMOIR OF RAY. 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. 30 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 ef 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 was 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 Cc 34 MEMOIR OF RAY, 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 MEMOIR OF RAY. Oo 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 methcdical 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. Ina subsequent edition these accessory arti- cles were omitted, as they had been published sepa- rately in a more perfect form. Ve 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. “ Egocerte meipsum tali negotio imparem et minus idoneum judico; nec si idoneus essem, puto me tantam mercedem aut stipendium mereri posse. Centum libre 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 RAY. OF 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. ye 38 MEMOIR OF RAY, All which I mention,” adds this amiable writer, “not only out of the great respect I bear to Mr 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 atthe 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 te 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 Seeries as a physician. While yet absorbed in grief for the loss of his * Derham’s Life of th p. 48. MEMOIR OF RAY. 39 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 weil 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 praecipueé ecclesize causa vehementer gaudeo: me tamen per eum ecclesiz resti- turum iri, stante sententia, plané est impossibile, nec enim unquam adduci me posse puto ut declarationi sub- scribam quam lex non ita pridem lata presbyteris aliisque ecclesie ministris injungit, nec tamen tanti est jactura Mei qui nulli fere usui ecclesiz futurus essem, utut (quod dici 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-fitth 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- ews, 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 OF RAY. 4] 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 myriapode. 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 cften 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 RAY. 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 press 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. MRCS sn. Maeee rete es tls sh eteae ec ac eee inc aneane tes onstee l SOAP ILIS vos cach ugk Acve sec tacd accu. suedvsabentcstenerses 2 2 Herbaceous Plants. Tg BA ee ae eA Er Sy 3 Wrishout Gower ei ot. SAS 4 Capillary: (088. SRP. a Lae eae 5 Greteiyes WG LI RTE ies Ae 6 With-one naked séédi:.£0.3... 205001. kod. aS 7 UmhelAte CAVA Rice aa ii lose teaeeened 8 Vetiewlake. i a AIR 9 Wen SAVE 557.0 bid. a octet eadieee ec kaewe 10 SENG 22 NS ae ae eids ed oa ei oa a weswuence denver 1] Pamie- hearin ernie Si. Msi hi ae eld ae ae teehs 12 Betry-bearings. Millia ai i. ieee 13 Many=podded 2 at Ais at AAO 14 Withioneregular petals. tsi) 208 15 Withionetirrégular petal i. ii i een 16 Petrapetalous; siliquose:./. 60 iy. oss aint owes 17 Tetrapetalous, siliculose 1.55/40. 2000 ate eaaees 18 Papiliaiaesoesteiil 02.06. 27 DR. a Be 19 Pentiapetalous.}s sett er9. GB Se 20 Frumenta, or the different kinds of corn that af- fomiefoed itemen 7406s. (00). SATHUN AGORA ERS 2] Grates iC TAsied. GENIN: LAGNA coals Grassy-leaved-plants:é: 23. 22stiee. Rea 23 Hatibaoal. fscaees 000s 0. ee ER Bd 24 Allied to the bulbous........ BIR Jia Aas Sha 25 MEMOIR OF RAY. 45 This arrangement is, toa considerable extent, con- formable to that of Czesalpinus, published in 1583, who was the first to avail himself of Gesner’s 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 Czsalpinus, 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: MEMOIR OF RAY, 46 ‘ Bl errereesseeeeseeeheesnonbrptsyypmyyrs ss tet estes sess "**S1OSSOA qoursip jes9A08 ay 77 | ieee pr*esteseooees-snoromoaper 91 see aah S2 #88. SATO TESTO Y 904.87 10 90a eee bees one rine @ YPM pataaoo spoag GT iene heer esseeses sSTOUMIAMSATO *** 8+" 11¢¢¢0 24+ see escnesesnegnagag poyeu Aureus yy Re aren Sa sae IAT i: GL erreeeereesseseepgagor-ySnoyy By Se ae kes ens Nien Cap eT Creer cece escescec ces ote torebsgnagg poyeu amoy Ua De ene fey, SOMA ROLLY sss is oes ns odneee' sao saa testes poyeu OMy UyEA OT rss srereereree*SNOWLIAASOUOTH*** *** ++ te++4¥ eer sesasereeeeeeenagg poyvu 3u0 yyua 6 8 lL 9 g ea WN 6} seenemodunog IOMOPT "**xATBO B INOYIA IO YITLAL ‘snoyeyode 72 °2 ASTRO UAT? +s propper sa onienass> a aay user oupant gouty \OOJ19 J Dey sesh terran Meee Cerda . sorestseaser sen eenees see seeeergagsgTy a ais ae mantis Jab (2110 eererereseces SE eS? SULCUS ees onan: ietuee se **91MOl O[QISIA qnoyyIAr 10 oayjroduay ‘SPN Oursnag you sqnsyg-sopuyy pun SIUM) snovonquayy MEMOIR OF RAY. Fe cecebeeeddbececvevees ***snoyeumouy GErreresersrtereeeeeesnogovuorpideg “er CoE NSNDNYs ¢- clever SOS TRY TO eee ORSON DIIS ou ‘KA Dee eT pPOTBaT Luan JON Gee ee aie ae POPOL LQ UL) een ea siibe Naty eMLOdO LUGO PON oe ec oe aL oy OF snonsi}u00 S1OMO ee ae ee ea SHOROILULOT) SyPReT es PEh ue NsCR ENA NU NSS * OOTETOUW IE ses! \: ETL oy} UO 9}OWI1 SIIMOP ‘snouopaAzooI(, 9% Peet de gee ene SUG See ee OLN OL snooovpunie Yaa ‘snouopo[Ayooou0 eee ee eceereeeesr eee eeeeoe eeevee mmm ort T yi ‘spng bursmag sqnsys) Pun saa L Gea ee ke gts eet ELOY, Bg osoeeoeoeesrsagsRdg SNODUTUTBYS*** eeoeee ese eee eee ees eseeee ***S TOMO sadoad yoy GarteeeessssggoqNg JOU AO SOME ttre etree testes SIO MOL Surarsq Garttttseeeesseseeeesnore@qadUyua ys ite rerssesee sesseranesereres ees ceseseereereces ss DOABI]-SSUIL) Tenet eho oeigeseee 96s oS OO | Og tttteseeeeseeeeees-gsonbipig BL “snopeyadiqg puv snopeyodouopy sees er seteree stereos passaA B[SUIS B LY 45 MEMOIR OF RAY. 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- 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 Linneus 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 Linnzeus had never looked. “ floriferas dividemus,” is the perspicuous language of Ray, “‘in dicotyledones, quarum semina sata binis foliis anomalis seminalibus dictis, quae cotyledonum usum prestant, é terra exeunt, vel in binas saltem lobos dividuntur, quamvis eos supra terram foliorum spe- cie non efferant ; et monocotyledones, quee nec folia seminalia bina efferunt, nec binos lobos condunt. Heec divisio ad arbores etiam extendi potest; si- quidem palmz et congeneres hoc respectu eodem MEMOIR OF RAY. 49 modo a reliquis arboribus differunt quo monocotyle- 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 beiter friends. But trritabile genus is a character which might have been extended by the poet much beyond his own fraternity.”* 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’ Cyclopeedia. D 50 MEMOIR OF RAY. 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 Linnzeus as opus immensi laboris. It embodies all that is valuable in preceding writers, and forms a complete epiteme 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- mentof 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. aS | being now exhausted, Ray began to prepare a third 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 the importunity of his botanical friends, he publish- ed, in 1688, his Fasctculus Stirpium Britannica- rum post editum Catalogum Plantarum, &c. The other work appeared in 1690, under the title of Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum. This 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- ccnd edition, above referred to, was published in * 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 Dillenius. 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 curas, 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 Lacépéde, 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 RAY. is 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 cail 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- sice- 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. 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 Linnzus. * Pulteney’s Sketches of the Progress of Botany in England, vol. i. p. 239. MEMOIR OF RAY. 53 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 Rauwolf’s 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 Stirpiwm in exteris regionibus, &c., which was now out of print; and his attention being recalled, by Rauwolf’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 sufiiciently 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 Stirpiwm Euro- pearum extra Britannias nascentium Sylloge. The plants are arranged in alphabetical order, and, be- sides the addition of various lists from Boccone’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 the 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 Ri- 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 MEMOTR OF RAY. BY 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- chod 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, and 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 MEMOIR OF RAY. and that he 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- ingitsclose. But studyhad nowbecome 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- 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. Irely 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 RAY. 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 ont 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. I have now given over my inquisition, by reason of my dis- ability to prosecute, and my approaching end, which I pray God fit me for. You that have more time before you may profitably bestow some of your spare hours upon such enquiries, and may probably make useful discoveries, at least may reap a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction in finding out and bringing to light some of the works of God not before taken notice of.” But before his increasing infirmities obliged him to abandon this study—the last that occupied the attention of his active mind— he 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. siderable 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 which undergo transformation, and those which do not change 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 Linnzan terms for metamorphoses, and reducing Ray’s tribes of Orthop- tera, Hemiptera, and Neuroptera, to their modern denominations. 61 MEMOIR OF RAY. TT ‘ynuyus sawoumauyor i °***** BYeYO.1R09 mnt 7, prosn nas ‘wpnoouyay VOYLAR seep Weng, pepSO Ud LOUIE OTT h mn “mruofiuoyrdng yo BIIVSOLH Muar. eee ara nen ace Ang | wou BLLe}TOS eee -BI{UIaU SIpy »-"** vughjoupr ) *** By90Iq0 JOA 4 mania nyay 4) piajgdig ) Stoovullvyy SILy vjoydutoour “poyyjaut wont BOYLAG IT “‘nuajdoajog ) stsoydcoweza yl poyijayy J yo BLABSIL9 “pursauay day ile buioee Bo, CuLooTULOS pay douayopy SIsoYydowleyo fy “p.lagdoyjeo “MIDPNDIUT ) ‘ounjgld ——— "8's voryenbY “yasay asod.wop , + ppodhjoy “pssaLduUuoy cae, fe pm eseeee BITISOTIO ppod-Og povipuryli) ny My -ppod-¥z |, “ppod-Fy fs sreseeeeeesmaEDag “eyepnedo-U0N 2... . “Byepuny f ppodoi9Q : ‘norjyenby v.. : Boies cores BLIISOLIOT, pare, i OOM DTU be laeectieite VULISILMAL spody * yuaunydwounjayir sen 0ydLouUlnjaUyy “V.LOGSNI 62 MEMOIR OF RAY. This classification possesses considerable merit. The praise, it is true, of assuming the metamer- 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 Coyte, M. A. * Hist. Insectorum, p. 109. MEMOIR OF RAY. 63 Eruditissimi Viri JoHANNis Raut, 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. fuit olim Socius, Necnon Societatis Regize apud Londinenses Sodalis, Egregium utriusque Ornamentum. In omni Scientiarum genere Tam Divinarum quam Humanarum Versatissimus. Et sicut alter Solomon (cui forsin Unico Secundus) A Cedro ad Hyssopum, Ab Animalium maximis, ad minima usque Insecta, Exquisitam nactus est Notitiam. Nec de Plantis solim, qua patet Terrze facies Accuratissimé disseruit ; Sed et intima ipsius viscera sagacissimé rimatus, Quicquid notatu dignum in universa Natura de- scripsit. Apud exteras Gentes agens, Que aliorum Oculos fugerent, diligenter exploravit, Multaque scitu dignissima primus in Lucem protulit : Quod superest, ed Morum Simplicitate preeditus, Ut fuerit absque Invidia Doctus ; Sublimis Ingenii, Kt, quod raro accidit, demissi simul animi et mo- desti ; 64 MEMOIR OF RAY. Non Sanguine et Genere insignis, Sed qued majus, Propria Virtute Illustris. De Opibus Titulisque obtinenc\ Parum solicitus, Hec potius mereri voluit quam adipisci: Dum sub Privato Lare, sua Sorte contentus (Fortuna lautiori dignus) consenuit. In rebus aliis sibi modum facilé imposuit, In Studiis nullum. Quid Plura? Hisce omnibus, Pietatem minime fucatam adjunxit, Ecclesiae Anglicane (Id quod supremo halitu confirmavit) Totus et ex Animo addictus. Sic bene latuit, bene vixit Vir beatus, Quem Presens Aitas colit, Postera mirabitur. Weare 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 Rec- tor of Black Notley. . MEMOIR OF RAY. 65 Tumulum hunc a nonnullis humanitati, et scientize naturali, faventibus, olim conditum, ‘et aliorum bona diligentia postea restauratum, 1737, nunc e vetustatis situ et sordibus pauci de novo revocarunt, 1792. ava ETIDUVOY Tota yn TaDOS. The era in which Ray flourished, is justly de- scribed by Linneus 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- E 66 MEMOIR OF RAY, 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 MEMOIR OF RAY. 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- nzeus, 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- nzeus 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. Linneus 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 wish 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 RAY. 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! 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 OF RAY, 69 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 RAY, 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 Tondon 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 Avnals of Phi- losophy, vol. v. p. 140. ENTOMOLOGY. NATURAL HISTORY OF COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. “ Si vous parlez d’une pierre, d’une fourmi, d’un mou. cheron, d’une abeille, votre discours est une espéce de de- monstration de la puissance de celui qui les a formées; car la sagesse de l’ouvrier se manifeste pour l’ordinaire dans ce qui est le plus petit. Celui qui a étendu les cieux, et qui a creusé le lit de la mer, n’est point différent de celui qui a percé l’aiguillon d’une abeille, afin de donner passage & 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. /3 chee, 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 cf 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, and 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 |’Histoire 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 Linné, 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 of 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 (xore0g, a sheath, and rrsgu, 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 OF 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 phzenogamous or flowering plants in- cigenous to Britain, and greatly exceeds the whole amount of our native vertebrateanimals. 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 “* Spstematische Beschreibung der bekannten Euro- paischen siwetilugeligen Jnsekten, bon J. M., Veigen. Aachen, 1818-1830. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. FI 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 antenne, which are very strong and rigid, are upwards of six inches in length. The Hercules beetle (Dynastes Hercules), and Scarabeus Actzon, mea- surerespectively about four anda half inches in length 7 78 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- jutely 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 templation of the structure of the most gigantic 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 Hymenoptera, 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 other 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 the 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- ¥F 82 NATURAL HISTORY OF 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 wjth 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 (Scarabeus Syphaz, and severalallied 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 (Scarabeus Acte@on) 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 (Scarabeus 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 (Lucanide) 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 antenne are of 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 will 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 GOLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. io.) K) 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 in fields sable— azure—vert—gules—argent and or, fesses—hars— bends—crosses—-crescents—stars, and even ani- * Barbut’s Gen. of Insects, p. 46. 86 NATURAL HISTORY OF mals.* On many, taking her rule and compasses; she draws with precision mathematical figures 5 points, lines, angies, triangles, 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- cent and excrementitious substances—is black or brown. ‘The water-beetles (Dytiscide) are almost uniformly brownish black, inclining to olive, and frequently variegated with streaks and spots of dull yellow. The rostrated beetles, or weevils ( Curcu- lionide), 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 shrubs, and they are remarkable for displaying the * Ptinus imperialis, Linn, + Trichius delta, Fab. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 87 most vivid tints of green. As examples ot tnis, the British genera Otiorhynchus and Phyllobius may be cited, and the foreign ones Brachycerus and Entimus. The elegant tribe of Cetonide, 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 Chrysomelide—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 Coccinellide, 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 Buprestidze—the blue and coppery hues of the Eu- molpi—the varied delineations of the Cetonide— and the warm but delicate tinting of the Ceramby- 88 NATURAL HISTORY OF cide—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. 89 mery,” which people the gay parterres of a tropical landscape, and embellish them _--s-‘With their rich restless wings, that gleam , Variously in the crimson beam Of the warm west—as if inlaid r 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 * Hore Entomologice, 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 yepose—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 undergoa 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 “r 94 NATURAL HISTORY OF no idea. During one part of the day nothing 1s heard but a loud and uninterrupted rustling or humming noise, in which the harsh and deafening notes of the Cicade 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 (Eintimus 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 Cicadz 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 Spence’s Intro. to Entom. ii. 404, COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 95 The Lampyride, 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 Zilateride 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 (Dytiscide), which are most numerous in the tems 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 OF season of the year by a rapid evaporation, and the smaller streams at one time undergo the same fate, 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 someprovision were made to accelerate their removal. We ac- cordingly find a profusion of carcass-eating beetles —WNecrophori, Silphide, &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- tles belonging to the genera Aphodius, Onthopha- gus, Aleochara, &c. Some kinds (such as the Geo- trupide) 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 Scarabei, the Phanzi, 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, they are in like manner distinguished by possessing peculiar species of insects. Many of these will be afterwards particularized. The geographical distri- bution 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. These it will be more satisfactory to give hereafter. G 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 the 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 zzsected 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 larve 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 insect COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. G9 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 of 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 ( Curculionide) it is produced into an elongated rostrum or snout. The hinder part is occasionally constricted into a short neck, which inosculates in the anterior cavity of the thorax, and admits of a considerable degree of motion in almost every direction. The position of the head, or its inclination with respect to the body, is generally somewhat slanting, forming an angle more or less obtuse ; but in some instances it is bent inwards and forms an acute angle. The anterior part of the head is occupied by the mouth and its various appendages, near to which are placed the antenne and eyes. The mouth is greatly more complicated in its structure than among the higher animals, and its various parts undergo numerous modifications in different tribes. They will be found however to be essentially as follows: the labrum or upper lip, the mandibles, the mazille or under jaws, the labiwm or under lip, and the mentum. The upper lip (dabrum) is a small moveable piece placed on the upper side of the mouth, and closing it from above. It is variable in form, but is most 100 NATURAL HISTORY OF commonly quadrate, usually wider than long, and sometimes rounded or triangular. It is of a horny consistence, and its direction is often somewhat slanting or vertical. Its outer margin is frequently sinuated or notched. The mandibles, or upper jaws, are two strong horny pieces, which take their rise one from each side of the mouth, immediately beneath the upper lip, which usually covers their base. They are ge- nerally of a triangular form, more or less curved, esp cially towards the tip, and usually toothed or serrated on their inner edges. They may be said tor present the jaws in vertebrate animals, but they. differ in this, that their motion, instead of being ver- tical, is horizontal or from side to side. Their in- ternal surfaces are frequently parallel, but the den- tati ns are seldom alike in both, the projections of the one being so arranged as to enter the concavi- ties of the other, in order to admit of them closer junction. This, however, is often prevented by the curvature of the tips; and in several instances where the mouth is wide, and the mandibles rather remote from each other at the base, the blades cross each other a little beyond the centre. The name, which is derived from a Latin word signifying to chew, indicates their function, which is to bruise and comminute the food; and they likewise act as instruments of prehension. They are liable to re- markable variation in size; in many genera they are so short and inconspicuous as to be almost en- COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 101 ‘tirefy concealed within the cavity ef the mouth, while in others they are nearly equal to half the ‘ength of the body. Instances of the latter may be seen in several of the species figured, particularly Prionus cervicornis (Plate XXIII.), Chiasognathus Chiloensis (Plate X VIII.), and the stag-beetle. The under jaws (maaille) are likewise two pro- jecting pieces, inserted on each side of the mouth, immediately below the mandibles. _ As in the last- named organs, their action is horizontal, but their texture is generally less rigid, their colour usually paler, and their internal edges ciliated or fringed with hairs. ‘The tip is frequently acute, and in one beautiful tribe of beetles ( Cicindelid@) it terminates .in a moveable claw; but in many instances the maxillz are lobed, and of a spongy consistence at the extremity. As accessory to the mandibles, they are employed in holding the food, lacerating it, and subjecting it to a still further comminution, after the harder parts have been broken down by the more powerful action of the upper jaws. Towards the middle of the outer edge of the maxillz, there emerge two slender filiform processes, composed of several joints, named palpi. These are usually termed maxillary palpi, to distinguish them from another pair which take their origin in the under lip. In many beetles each jaw is fur- nished with two of these appendages, in which case they are distinguished from each other as the ex- ternal and internal palpi; but in numerous instances 102 NATURAL HISTORY OF there is only one palpus attached to each blade of the maxillz. 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 antenne 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- ile, and is composed, as it were, of two portions joined together by their inner edges. The part COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 103 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- illa. 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 tubular 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- tennz 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 antenne 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 antennz are obyiously 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 (Diptera), and some other insects, does not accord with that usage, they are likewise sup- posed to be the seat ofa 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 the antennze represent the ears, and that although they may not directly convey the vibrations of sound to 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 Huber’s 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 and mouth which 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; 4 the mandibles; ¢ the exter- nal maxillary palpi; d the labial palpi; e the an- tenne ; f (fig. 2) the labium or under lip; g the mentum, with a triangular tooth in the centre of its notch; /# the internal maxillary palpi; ¢ the max- illa, produced into an acute arcuate lobe. 106 NATURAL HISTORY OF The next part of a coleopterous insect which re- quires some notice is the thorax, which it will suf- fice 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 furm 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 (Dytiscide), 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 seutellum. 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 OF horny substance, similar to the crustaceous envelope of the head and thorax, and in the language of 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 the 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 smal! 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, the inferior wings would be continually liable to injury, as they are but littie adapted by their delicate tex- 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 m the act of flight, by presenting a broad and con- COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 169 cave surface to the air, and maintaining the body in a proper equilibrium. The aérial movements of these insects are not, however, in general performed with that power and ease of evolution which are so remarkable in birds, 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 flight 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, Melolonthe, &c.), possess considerable power of wing. During a warm day in spring the air is 110 NATURAL HISTORY OF filled with Staphylinide, Spheridiide, 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 8, the tibia or shank e, and the tarsus or foot d, as represented in the following figure. The coxa may be regarded as the joint which connects the leg with the thorax. It is frequent- ly furnished with an appendage called the trochanter. The thigh is the largest and most conspi- cuous portion of the leg; it is usually somewhat flattened, and frequently spined or serrated on the edges. In the jumping beetles ( Haltice), and some other species (as in Sagra, Plate XXVII.), the hinder thighs are very much thickened. The tie bize are generally shorter and more slender than the thighs, growing thicker at the lower extremity, and having a tendency to a triangular form. They are frequently beset with stiff bristles, and armed more or less with spines or spurs. The tarsus is the ter- minal portion of the foot, and consists of small joints varying in number from five to three. The shape of COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 111 the joints is most commonly triangular or elongate- quadrate. On the underside they are usually densely clothed with hairs or bristles forming a kind of cush- ion, which enables the insects to make their footing more secure. The tarsi terminate in two curved claws, which in some instances are double, and in others are bifid at the tip. They are frequently serrated on the under side. As the anterior pair of legs are in most cases con- vertible into organs of prehension, they sometimes exhibit striking peculiarities in their structure in order to adapt them to this usage. In several species they are remarkably elongated, and occa- sionally provided with a kind of hook at the extre- mity of the tibia, as in the harlequin beetle, repre- sented on Plate XXV. In other instances, as among some of the predacious Carabide, the anterior ti- biz 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. 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 montis, 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 ¥ PL AE. ih. l. Gcindela aurulenta 3. Procerus Tauricus. Liuars sc 2. Anthia decengutata, 4. Carabius Rispanus. at 5, 1 ee * Ey ei % ik is in an) ‘COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 117 CICINDELA AURULENTA PLATE I. Fia. 1. Fabricius, Syst. Eleuth. p. 239, No. 38.—Dejean, Spec. Gé- nér. vol. 1. p. 46. The ordinary length of this insect is about seven lines and a half. The upper lip, which projects very little, is yellow, somewhat dusky at the base and sides. The mandibles are deep black, and marked with a yellowish spot at the base. The palpi and four lowest joints of the antenne 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 inhabits 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 y ¢ = Ll. Carabus auratus. 2.0¢ arabus Clathratus. 5. Lertlus Meqger¢te/. ry 4.6247 S S$ COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 125 CARABUS AURATUS. PLATE II. Fic. 1. Fabricius, Syst. Eleuth. p. 175.—Olivier, iii. 35, p. 32, No. 30, pl. 51, fig. 5, a, b, c.—Dejean, Spec. Génér. 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 antenne. The organs of the mouth, and the four lowest joints of the antenne, 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 NATURAL HISTORY OF CARABUS CLATHRATUS. PLATE II. Fie. 2. Fabricius.—Olivier.—Gyllenhal, Insec. Suecica, p. 67.—De- jean, Spec. Génér. 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 = COLEOPTEROUS 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 TEFFLvs, 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. Fie. 3. Carabus Megerlei, Fabricius, Syst. Eleuth. p. 169.—De- jean, Spec. Génér. 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 nuraber, 128 NATURAL HISTORY OF 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- tennz, 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 larve 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 (Lastocampa Processionea), 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 PAE, Sr Calosonmu Sycoph “ “ “ -~ CAIVLE fs va ; oi 7 d } ] 4 Ue € Llaphiius 7 VAT TLS ) Vormolyce Phi Vodes Lizars st COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 129 their own fraternity. Although this genus is 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. 1. Fie. ‘1. Fabricius, Syst. Eleuth. p. 212.-Carabus sycophanta, Oli- vier, iil. 35, p. 42, No. 43, t. 3, fig. 31. It does not exceed ten or eleven lines in length, the figure 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 antenne, and the latter a faint line down the centre. The scutellum is black, and nearky smooth. The elytra are of a rich green, glossed with golden yellow; in shape somewhat like a shield, and marked with closely placed striz, which have small punctures in the bottom, and a row of rather large and remote punctures on the fourth, eighth, and twelfth interstices. I 130 NATURAL HISTORY OF This insect is of frequent occurrence in all the 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 by 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. Fia. 2. Cicindela riparia, Linn.—Donovan’s British Insects, vol. ix. 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, which are purple in the centre, and surrounded with a ring of a metallic lustre. The spaces betweenthese ocellated spots are very little elevated, except one CCLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. Est near the middle of the interior row, which is large, somewhat square, and very highly polished. The under side of the body and legs are bronzed green, except the base of the thighs and greater part of the tibiz, which are pale reddish yellow. This insect is of frequent occurrence in most parts of Britain. The genus derives its name from 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- tenne 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. * Rios, @ marsh, Or sAadeos, light, active. 132 NATURAL HISTORY OF MORMOLYCE PHYLLODES. PLATE III. Fic. 3. Hagenbach, Novum Coleop. Genus.—Dejean, Spec. Gén. t. v- part li. p. 714.—Latreille, Regne Anim. t. iv. p. 400. This insect is so peculiar in its form and structure, that it is difficult to determine what place it. ought to occupy in a systematic arrangement. It posses- ses little in common with the genera associated with it by the continental naturalists, except the elon- gation of the third joint of the antennz. In its flat and dilated elytra, it bears considerable resemblance to certain neuropterous species of the genus mantis, which are remarkable for their likeness to the with- ered leaves of trees. It is this circumstance that has suggested the above specific name, which is ex- pressive of resemblance to a leaf. The head and thorax are narrow and elongated, and the latter has a dilated portion on each side which is scolloped on the outer edge. The abdomen is likewise rather narrow, and the portion of the elytra which covers it is somewhat convex, reticulated, and marked with a double series of rather large impressions ; the portion of the elytra projecting beyond the ab- domen is very broad and flat, and is somewhat waved on the surface. The tibize are crooked, and the anterior pair have a deep notch near the apex. The general colour of the insect is blackish brown, COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 133 and it is somewhat shining. It is liable to great variation in size, some of the specimens which we have seen, among an extensive series in the posses- sion of James Wilson, Esq. measuring three and a fourth inches in length, and an inch anda half across the elytra, while others do not exceed two inches in length and one in breadth. It is a native of Java, and seems to occur in considerable plenty in some parts of the country. DYTISCID. A numerous group of carnivorous beetles, belong- ing to the present section, inhabit the waters of lakes and ponds, both as larve and in their perfect condition. Although frequenting an element so different in its nature from that in which other in- sects live, there is no very marked difference in their structure, a slight modification of certain parts sufficing to adapt them to their new abodes. Their motions are effected by means of the hinder pair of legs, which are rather long and flat, and have the tibie and tarsi densely fringed with long stiff hairs, presenting a pretty broad surface to the water. Their respiratory apparatus in no respect differs from that of other insects ; but, in order to bring the stigmatic openings in contact with the air, they are obliged from time to time to repair to the surface. This is speedily effected merely by stopping the movements of the legs; for as the body is specifically 134 NATURAL HISTORY OF lighter than water, it obeys the tendency to float upwards as soon as the counteracting force ceases to be applied. When resting on the surface the head is turned downwards, and the legs extended at right angles with the body, of which the only ‘ portion that appears above the water is the extre- mity of the abdomen, where the air is admitted by the tips of the elytra being slightly raised; and when the insect descends, it carries along with it a bubble of air resembling a globule of quick- silver. If they wish to remain below the surface with their legs unemployed, they can do so only by adhering to the roots or stem of some aquatic plant. They are strictly an amphibious family ; for, al- though water is their favourite element, they sur- vive for a long time on moist land, and usually fly about in the evening twilight, or even during the darkness of the night. Their flight is rapid and sustained, and may be assisted in certain species of Dytiscus by a kind of winglet, similar to that found in the majority of two-winged flies, which is placed under the base of the elytra. All the spe- cies are extremely voracious, as might be inferred from the structure of the masticatory and other or- gans, which are very fully developed. Their usual prey are the larva of gnats, ephemere, and dragon- flies; and the more powerful kinds are said to at- tack with success animals considerably exceeding themselves in size. By far the most conspicuous COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 135 genus in the family, is that first established by Linné under the name of DYTISCUS, a term derived from éueng, which signifies a diver. In its present restricted form, it is distinguished by having the antennz setaceous, that is, tapering slight- ly from the base to the apex ; by the truncated ter- minal joint of the labial palpi; and by having the anterior tarsi dilated in the males into a rounded plate. The three basal joints of the tarsi are di- lated in the middle pair of legs—a circumstance which chiefly discriminates the Dytisci proper from the genus Acilius of Dr Leach—and the elytra of the female are usually furrowed. The larve are narrow and elongate, composed of twelve segments, including the head, which is large and strong, bearing short antennez, and armed with two powerful jaws. The last named organs, which are long and incurved, are perforated at the tip, so that they not only serve to seize and. lacerate the prey, but also form a tube through which its juices are absorbed. The anal segment is slender and co- nical, and is furnished with two projecting appen- dages, by means of which the animal is enabled to push itself forwards in the water, and rise to the surface for a supply of fresh air. The three segments behind the head are each provided with a pair of legs, which are more or less fringed with 136 NATURAL HISTORY OF hairs, and no doubt assist materially in swimming. The food of the larve is similar to that of the per- fect insect, and they are perhaps even more vora- cious in their early condition than after they have undergone their final change. The following cut represents the larva of Dytiscus marginalts, the most common species throughout the southern parts of Britain. The largest species of Dytiscus with which we are acquainted is D. Jatissimus, which is found in Germany and the north of Europe. About eight or nine different kinds inhabit Britain, some of which are common in England; but they become scarcer in the more northern parts of the island. The species represented, for which we are indebted to Mr Curtis’ beautiful figure, is PLATE? 4, L. Dytiscus dimidiatis. 5. Cyclous VILEZALUS 7 LJ , * , . rT Pye med LZ.CVTUMUS Natator: | [7 UTOUS DICCLLS af COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 137 DYTISCUS DIMIDIATUS. PLATE IV. Fic. I. Bergstraesser Nomenclatur, pl. 7, fig. 1.—Curtis’ Brit. Ent. iii. pl. 99. The colour is brownish black tinged with olive green. The antenne and upper lip are yellow, and there is a triangular or crescent-shaped spot of rust red on the forehead between the eyes. The thorax is widely margined on each side with yellow, and a broad stripe of the same colour runs along the whole of the external margin of the elytra: the surface of the latter is very smooth in the males, and each is marked with three rows of punctures. The under side of the body, and the legs, are yellowish, with the sutures of the breast black. The lobes of the sternum, which afford very distinctive characters in this group, are obtuse in the present species. It has occurred at Cambridge, and in some other parts of England. There is another group of aquatic beetles, the species of which, although much inferior in size to those just described, are still more fitted to attract attention by their numbers, brilliant appearance, and interesting manners. These insects constitute the genus 138 NATURAL HISTORY OF GYRINUS, a word sometimes used by Aristotle and other Greek writers, and which is derived from a verb signifying to move in acircle. They afford a few well-marked characters, by which they are readily distinguished from all their aquatic associates. The antenne are short 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 antenne 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 (Z%pulide), 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 be that prompts Ihe 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 Europe, is GYRINUS NATATOR. PLATE IV. Fic. 2. Linn.—Fabricius.—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. 14] surface of each marked with eleven striz 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 middie 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 NATURAL HISTORY 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-flea 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 upon the mind.”* CYCLOUS VITTATUS. PLATE IV. Fie. 3. 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. COLEOPTEROUS 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 purple and blue form pretty distinct bands on the elytra, especially towards the sides. The under side of the body is pitch brown, the natatory legs paler: the 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 Dytiscide and Gyrinide, 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 Linnean 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- tennz—a circumstance which has led the group to 144 NATURAL HISTORY OF be distinguished by the name of PatpicornEs. The antennz usually consist of nine joints, which become larger towards the upper extremity, and are con- nected by a filament, which has the appearance of passing through them. The genus most deserving of notice, is that first established by Dr Leach under the name of Hydrotis. It is known by having the labrum entire, the posterior claws bifid, the elytra narrowing gradually behind, and the great size of the teeth on the internal edge of the mandibles. HYDROUS PICEUS. PLATE IV. Fic. 4, Dytiscus piceus, Linn.—Hydrophilus piceus, Fab.—Hyd. piceus, Curtis’ Brit. Ent. v. pl. 239 (from which the acs 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 antennz and organs of the mouth are reddish. Each wing-case is marked with eight dotted lines, and the alternate interstices with an irregular seriesof dots. The breast isclothed 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, 1t 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-fsh and other molluscz 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 larvee 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, Régne Animal, iy. 523- K 146 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 Har- 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 BracuELytra.* This peculiarity in the form of the wing-cases is obviously designed to render the body more flexible, by removing every obstacle tothe motions of theabdomen. 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 larger kinds is rendered sufficiently formidable to * From feaxus short, and savreov, a wing-case. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 147 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 larve 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. The amount of known species does not fall much short of a thousand, and nearly eight hundred have been found in Britain. They were all included by Linnzeus 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 antennz 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 ERYTHRURWUS. PLATE V. Fic. 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. © — ee PLABE, 5’; Britain North America l. Staphvlinus ervilvurus 3. Bolitobius atri, apllis: 2. tantholinus Filgidus. 4 AIT OPNOTUS CTATALUS LLZAT S$ St 1? ~ COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 149 XANTHOLINUS FULGIDUS. PLATE V. Fic. 2. Staph. fulgidus, Paykull.—Othius fulgidus, Leach, Stephens. — Olivier, iii. No. 42, pl. 4, fig. 34, a, b,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 antennz 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, antenne, and the organs of the mouth, are light-red. 150 NATURAL HISTORY OF BOLITOBIUS ATRICAPILLUS. PLATE. V. ‘Fie.-S. Staphylinus atricapillus, Fabricius, Olivier, iii. No. 42, pl. 4, fig. 39, a, b.—Tachinus atricapillus, Gravenhorst, Mo- nog. Microp. This generic group was first separated by Dr Leach from the genus Tachinus of Gravenhorst. It includes about twenty small species, which appear to be found only in Europe and North America. They are known by having the body narrowed at both ends, the thorax nearly as long as wide, the anterior part of the head rather produced, and the four posterior tarsi considerably lengthened. They are ornamented with strongly contrasted marks of red, pale yellow, and blue black; and the surface is remarkable for its high polish. All the species feed on mushrooms, boleti, &c., and seem most partial to them when in a putrescent state. B. atricapillus, of which we have given a magnified figure from Olivier’s Entomologie, inhabits Britain, France, and most of the northern and middle countries of Europe. It varies from three to four lines in length, and is of a glossy black on the head, with the mouth and palpi reddish. The thorax is glossy red, without punc- tures, except on the sides: the elytra bright bluish black, with a pale crescent-shaped mark at the base of each, and three faint punctured lines along the COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 151 disk; the abdomen shining red, with the two last segments black. The legs and four lowest joints of the antennz are pale red, the six following joints of the latter black, and the terminal one pale red. The only other genus of this family now to be illustrated has been named ZrropHorus. Its dis- tinctive characters are, the depressed body, the teeth on the outer edge of the anterior tibiz, the trans- verse head (7. e. wider than long), square thorax, attached to the abdomen by a kind of narrow pe- duncle, and the size of the mandibles, which rather exceed the length of the head, and are deeply den- tate at the extremity. All the species, not exceed- ing seven in number, are natives of America and the great islands on the east of Asia. They inva- riably live under bark in a state of decomposition, a process which they greatly hasten by perforating it with numerous holes, and making it pervious to air and moisture. The most common species is Z. sco- riaceus ;* that which we have represented bears con- siderable resemblance to it, and is named * Figured in Griffith’s Translation of Cuvier’s Régne Animal, iv. pl. 32. 152 NATURAL HISTORY OF ZIROPHORUS EXARATUS. PEATE HV.. bie 4. Ziroph. exaratus, Dejean. The length is about nine lines. It is of a uniform black colour, very smoothand shining, the tarsi alone and the hairs on the antenne and legs, being brown, The mandibles are slightly curved upwards at the tip, and furnished with two or three large angular projections or teeth. The head, which is very short and wide, has a deeply impressed line down the middle, meeting at right angles a transverse one behind the head. The thorax and elytra are nearly of equal width, the surface flat, very smooth and shining, and the former having a line down the middle. The abdomen is very narrow, and fringed with brown hairs, the terminal segment conical. The under parts of the body and legs are black and shining; the anterior tibie armed with small teeth on the outer edge. The tarsi are brown or pitch- red. Inhabits Brazil, occurring not unfrequently. SERRICORNES. The next division of the pentamerous Coleoptera which presents itself to our notice, includes an ex- tensive variety of species, in which the antenne are more or less obviously serrated or pectinated, on COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 153 which account they have received the above name. Many of these insects are distinguished by a pecu- liar conformation of the middle portion of the breast, which lies between the two anterior legs, and is pro- perly called the prosternum. It is defined on each side by a longitudinal groove, which sometimes re- ceives the antenne ; the anterior part is dilated and advanced close upon the mouth, while the opposite extremity is prolonged into a point which is ‘kd- mitted into a cavity placed in the hinder part of the breast, a little before the insertion of the middle pair of legs. Such as exhibit a structure of this kind constitute the section Sternoxes, a term which bears reference to the acute process of the breast just alluded to. In other instances the pro- sternum is not dilated below the head, and scarcely ever produced into a spine behind; and the body, instead of being firm and rigid, as in the species of the former section, is usually of a soft and flexible consistence. The latter circumstance has suggest- ed the name of Malacodermes for this section, a term composed of two Greek words signifying @ soft skin. Both of these sections comprehend in- sects of considerable interest, both for their beauty and singular economy, and which require therefore to have some space devoted to their history. The Sternoxes are divisible into two well-marked families, corresponding to the genera Buprestis and Elater of Linneus. The Buprestidz are most rea- dily distinguished by not having the posterior angles 154 NATURAL HISTORY OF of the thorax prolonged into an acute spine, and by being incapable of leaping. The name Buprestis* was applied by the ancients to certain insects, of what particular kind cannot now be easily deter- mined, which were supposed to be possessed of qua- lities which rendered them noxious to cattle. Geof- froy transferred the term to another group, under the idea that such an application of it was more in accordance with its original usage, and distinguished the present one by the generic name of Cucwus. It now designates a numerous and well-defined fa- mily, including nearly 200 known species, many of which are the most beautiful and richly ornamented of the coleopterous tribes. They are adorned with the most brilliant green and golden colours, often glossed with purple and blue, and variegated with bands and markings of the highest metallic lustre. A few species inhabit this country, but several of the larger kinds included in the British Fauna have been introduced without sufficient authority. Their proper geographical position is within the tropics, where they may be seen flying about in great num- bers in the open parts of the forests and on the margin of rivers, or reposing on the trunks and leaves of trees, as if enjoying the heat of the meri- dian sun, which is reflected with great brilliancy from their polished surfaces. * From fous, an ox, and xenbw, I inflame. PLATE: 6. A NUCH WU : Lap TLS CAIVSES.: 3. Buprestts bicolor. Lizars se. ASE SETRICOTIS.-4. OT OFELE.. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. ¥55 BUPRESTIS CHRYSIS. PLATE VI. Fie. 1. Buprestis chrysis, Oliv. 32, pl. 2, fig. 8, a, d, e.—Bup. ster- nicornis, De Geer.—Bup. sternicornis, Var. Linn.—Ster- nocera chrysis, Esch. Dejean. The body of this species is very stout and con- vex anteriorly, and the elytra taper towards the hinder extremity. The antenne are of a blackish colour, and rather shorter than the thorax. The head and thorax are of a brilliant golden green, and the latter is sculptured with numerous exca- vated dots, rather of’ large size, which have ash- coloured hairs in the bottom. Each elytron bears three small teeth at the hinder extremity ; the sur- face, although thickly covered with minute punc- tures, is smooth and glossy, and of a uniform deep chestnut colour, occasionally with a greenish gloss towards the base. The under side is of a brassy green, very highly polished, and the terminal seg- ment is usually margined with chestnut colour ; the legs are of the latter hue. The sternum has a strong conical projection directed downwards. This insect was once regarded as a variety of the following species, from which it differs in several important characters. It is a native of the East Indies, in some parts of which it appears to be rather common. 156 NATURAL HISTORY OF BUPRESTIS STERNICORNIS. PLATE VI. Fie. 2. Oliv. 32, pl. 6, fig. 52, a.—Sternocera sternicornis, Esch, 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 antennz 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 whabitant of the East Indies. ST COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 1a, BUPRESTIS BICOLOR. PLATE VI. Fic. 3. Buprestis bicolor, Fab.—Catoxantha bicolor, Dejean. Thisis 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 incolor 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- losity 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 OF The wings are of a deep smoke brown, finely gloss- ed with blue. The under parts of the body are yel- iowish 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 AMCNA. PLATE VI. Fic. 4. Kirby, Linn. Trans. 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 ELatTeR1Ipz&. 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 the 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 the air when they happen to fall on their back—a provision not required by the Bu- prestidz, probably because the more rounded form of their bodies enables them without difficulty to regain their natural position. The legs of the Ela- teridze 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 (4. undulatus) is long and cylindrical, provided with short antenne, 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 OF well known in this country by the name of wire- worm is the larva of a kind of Elater (EZ. 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 byit. 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 lod PLATE 7 l 2iater rroctilucis 4. Llater SUMUP ALS. -_POT CAMS —— BASTOUCLUS LUNCALLS : 9 Gobo COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS, 161 the luminous matter is an elongated projection from the head, in the form of a rostrum or snout, which- 2s 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 their 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. Fic. 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 depressions (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 L 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. 163 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 hilleck, 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 cucwie, cu- cure. 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 the 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 eyery 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- 164 NATURAL HISTORY OF 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 bist 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. 163 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 cf the gods speaking to mankind,t+ 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 imtroduction 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. + Dum volant, tanto stridore vel murmure et gemitu potils aérem replent, ut per eos Deorum cum kominibus fieri colloquia Laertius scriberet.—Mouf. Theat. 134. 166 NATURAL HISTORY OF 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 larvz 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 coxe 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. Fic. 2. Fabricius.—Olivier, ii. No. 31, pl. 7, fig. 74.—Chalcolepi- dius porcatus, Esch.—Dejean. 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. 168 NATURAL HISTORY 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. 3 ELATER LINEATUS. PLATE VII. Fie. 3. Fabricius. — Olivier, ii. No. 31, pl. 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 antenne 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. 169 longitudinal elevated line of red down the middle of each, which is turned backwards at the 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. Fic. 4. Fabricius.—Olivier, ii. No. 31, pl. 1, fig. 3, a, b, c, d.—Ela- ter angulatus, Drury’s Illustrations, iii. pl. 47, fig. 5. This species is liable to considerable variation both in size and markings. The head and antennz 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 OF ELATER DISTINCTUS. PLATE. VII.’ Fic. 5. Pericalus distinctus, Herbst.—Pericalus acuminatus, De- 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 antenne, 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. PEATE 2: 1 Brit am Llater melarnocephalus, 4.Lycus festivits Ak Lampyris Liatlice. Malachius margqirelius Liareulii 5. Priocer a Vartegiata CIO ee COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 171 ELATER MELANOCEPHALUS. PLATE: VIU- Fie. 1. Fabricius.— Olivier, ii. No. 31, pl. 4, fig. 36, a, b.—Melan- oxanthus melanocephalus, Esch. Dejean. This insect, of which we have given a greatly en- larged figure from Olivier, bears some resemblance to the indigenous species LZ. balteatus. The anten- nee 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 SeRrRicoRNEs, formed by spe- cies with a somewhat flexible integument, compre- hends the interesting family of glow-worms, or Lam- pyride. Itcorresponds to the undivided genus Lam- pyris as constituted by Linnzus. The species may be known by having antenne 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 ; 172 NATURAL HISTORY OF that is, without teeth 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, LZ. 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 Vill... Bic; :2. Lamppyris Italica, Linn.—Olivier, Entom. ii. No. 28, p. 18, pl. 2, fig. 12, a, b, 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 with 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 expansicn. 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 were 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- latives. 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. iii. p. 84. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 175 LAMPYRIS LATREILLII. PLATE VIII. Fic. 3. Kirby, Linn. Trans. vol. xii. 387, pl. 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- tennee 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 antennez 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 intertropical countries of South America. The genus Lycus is distinguished by having the snout longer than the hinder part of the head, and the antenne 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. Fie. 4. Lampyris festiva, Donovan’s Brit. Ins. xvi. pl. 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. N COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 17 MALACHIUS MARGINELLUS. PLATE VIII. Fic. 5. Fabricius.—Olivier, ii. No. 27, pl. 3, fig. 18, a, 6. This insect affords an example of the family Me- lyride, 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 antennz 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 antennz 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 antenne black. Another tribe of malacodermatous insects consti- * From pzaacxse, referring to the softness of the body. M 178 NATURAL HISTORY OF: tute the family 7illide 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. Fic. 6. Kirby, Linnean Trans. xii. p. 392, pl. 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- tennz 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- tennz, which become thicker at the extremity, and COLEOPTEROUS 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 maxille, 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 Burying-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 so 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 toa 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 180 NATURAL HISTORY OF 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 antennz, 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. Fic. 1. Silpha Humator, Olivier—Marsham’s Entom. Brit.—Do- novan’s British Insects, ii. pl. 537, fig. 1. This species is entirely of a brownish-black co- lour, except the three last joints of the antennz, which are orange yellow. The head and thorax are very faintly punctured, and the surface of the latter is PLATE 9. Ame rica 1 Britain Europe. Britain Pa 5 t 4 1 Necrophorus Humator 3. Silpha 4-maculata 2. Newwodes tittoralis. 4. Anitirenius scrophiuariae 5. Hister reniformis. Lauars se. ‘COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 181 rather 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 isfrequently met with in England and Scot- land, and most of the northern countries of Europe. NECRODES LITTORALIS. PLATE IX. Fic. 2, Silpha littoralis, Linn.—Marsham.—Curtis’ Brit. Ent. vii. 334. In this genus the antenne 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 antennz 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 NATURAL HISTORY OF SILPHA QUADRIPUNCTATA. PEATE 1X... Fra:s: Linn.—Donovan.—Marsham.—Silpha 4-maculata, Samow- elle’s Useful Compend. pl. 2, fig. 7. This genus, as originally constituted by Linnzus, 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 antenne 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. SS. guadripunctata, 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 of 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 SCROPHULARIZ. PLATE IX. Fic. 4. Fabricius.—Byrrhus scrophulariz, Linn.—Anth. Scroph., Olivier, ii. No. 14, pl. 1, fig. 5, a, 6. 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 antenne 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 larvee 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 OF ~~ HISTER RENIFORMIS. PLATE IX. Fic. 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 antennez 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 parts of Europe. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 185 LAMELLICORNES. This important section of the pentamerous bee- tles is so designated, because the antennz terminate in a club or large knob, composed of several laminz 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. Tlie anterior pair of legs are somewhat adapted for digging, as the tibiz 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 120 occur in Britain, but several of these are the most conspicu- ous and best known 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 larve 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 1s 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 ,arva 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 Linnzus, Sca- rabeeus and Lucanus. In the former the antennz 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 ScaraBzID2, which requires to be noticed, has been named ' ATEUCHUS. The term is probably derived from the Greek privative «, and rsuyes, 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 antennz 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 maxilla terminate in a membranous ing = 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, acharacter 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 tibize 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 canthus) 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<%iokras i: Scarabseus sacer, Linn.—Fabricius.—Olivier, Entom. pl. 8, fig. 59, a, b. The colour is entirely black, and the surface ra- PLATE 10 4 N. America. 7 lr »Z, 1 © > 7 Z, DT ITIL CO Vays 1 4leuchius sacer. 2.0Onthophagus. Dillwyn 4.Phanacus Carnivec.5.Geotrupes ste: LIRZATS SC. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 189° ther 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 tibize 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 HISTORY OF Porrum et czepe 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 theirrings, 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 Scarabeide or larger kinds of dung- * Ipsi qui irridentur Egyptii nullam belluam, nisi ob aliquam utilitatem, quam ex ea caperent, consecraverunt; velut Ibes maximam vim serpentium conficiunt, &c. Ci- 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, uften 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 Geotrupide, 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. Toa 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 Scarabzi, 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- bzeus 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. 193 the sun. All the individuals of this scarabzeus 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 scarabzeus 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 scarabeeus becomes animated. On the 29th day, which the insect 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 scarabei. 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 scarabzus. 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 194 NATURAL 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 Britain,t 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 Ana: du Mus. for 1819, entitled Des Insectes peints ou sculptes sur les monuments antiques de ? Egypte. + Moufeti Insectorum sive minimorum animalium Theatrum, London, 1634. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 195 i) 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 ied to the practice by ob- serving the scarabzeus! 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 Macrobius, the 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 rene, 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 * [ntro. to Ent. vol. i- 255, note. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. EOF 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. Theyare said to be so exceedingly strong and active as to move about, with the greatest ease, things that are many times their 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.” + 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 evdos, dung, and Qayog, 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. + Proyart’s History of Loango. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 199 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 instance 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 tibize 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. ONTHOPHAGUS DILLWYNII. PLATE X. Fic. 2. Onthoph. Dillwynii, Kirby.—Steph. Illus. of British En- tomology, vol. iii. 174, pl. 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 strie. The under parts of the body and legs are black, slightly tinged with a metallic lustree 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 PHAN AUS. It is distinguished from all the allied genera, ex- cept Onitis, by the structure of the antenne. 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 PHANEUS LANCIFER. PLATE X. Fic, 3. Scarabzeus lancifer, Fab.—Linn.—Olivier, Entom. vol. i No. 3, pl. 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 tibiz have four strong teeth on their outer edge. PHANZUS CARNIFEX. PLATE X. Fic. 4. Scarabzeus carnifex, Fab.—Drury’s Illus. of Insects, i. pl. 35, fig. 3, 4, 5.—Olivier, i. p. 135, pl. 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 inan 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 Grotrupes* has antenne 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. Fre. 5: Scarabzeus 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 strie, 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 yz, the earth, and touruity, to bore. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 205 The extensive and very remarkable genus Sca- RABZUS is distinguished by having ten joints in the antenne, the three last forming a foliaceous mass, of which the middle joint is never entirely concealed by the two others—by possessing a distinct scutel- lum—by the legs being inserted at equal distances —by the upper lip being almost entirely concealed —and by having the mandibles of a hard or horny consistence, and sinuated or dentated on their outer side. The body is usually thick and convex, and often of large size. None of these insects are na- tives of Britain, and only two appear to inhabit Eu- rope. By far the largest proportion occur in Ame- rica, particularly in the southern division of that continent, and in the adjacent islands ; indeed so nu- merous are they in these countries, and so remark- able for their size and appearance, that they may be regarded as constituting one of the most distinctive and characteristic features in the entomology of the new continent. The largest kinds are found chiefly in Guiana and the Antilles; a considerable number occur in the vicinity of Rio Janeiro; and they ex- tend in some plenty as far as the 28° of south lati- tude. Those found in the neighbourhood of Mon- te- Video, Buenos-Ayres, and Tucuman, are gene- rally of inferior size. According to M. Lacordaire, who has had many op- portunities of observing these insects in their native haunts, the habits of all the species are very much alike. During the day they conceal themselves in 206 NATURAL HISTORY OF holes dug in the earth or in the decomposed trunks of trees, or they are observed running along the pathways in the woods. On the approach of night they issue from their retreats, and fly around the trees at a considerable height above the ground, producing at the same time a loud noise. It is then that they seem to procure their food; and they are sometimes found in the morning under the leaves or clinging to the branches of trees. Although their flight is dull, it is rather rapid, and can be prolonged for a considerable time. They all produce a shrill noise by rubbing the elytra against the abdomen. The females are in general more common than the males, and are almost always without horns. Among the few exceptions to this rule may be mentioned S. Pan, the most common species in Brazil, the fe- male of which has a horn of some size on the head, and an excavation on the thorax. The latter sex is common, while the male is rare. The first species selected to illustrate this genus is the largest, and in some respects one of the most remarkable that it contains. It is named the Her- cules Beetle :— SWORVT Ss oO ILD SIQNIMOTT SHIDG? POUL eure) PLATE It. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 207 SCARABZUS HERCULES. PLATE XI. Olivier, i. pl. 1, fig. 1, a, b, male; pl. 23, fig. 1, c, female— Drury’s Illus. The head and thorax of the male are deep black, highly polished, and shining; the former with a long thick horn armed with two or three strong teeth, the latter produced into a very long horn, which is bent downwards near the outer extremity: it bears a strong triangular tooth on each side rather behind the middle, and is densely clothed with reddish- brown pile. The elytra are somewhat glaucous, or of a sea-green colour, but inclining to ash-grey, and marked with scattered spots of black: they are stri- ated and wrinkled across. The under parts of the body and the legs are black; the anterior tibie armed with three strong spines externally. Found in greatest plenty in the Antilles and Guiana; it extends as far as Rio Janeiro, but be- comes very rare in that neighbourhood. It likewise occurs in the American islands. 208 NATURAL HISTORY OF SCARABZUS TITYUS. PLATE XII. Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 542.—Olivier, i. No. 3, p. 9, pl. 4, fig. 31, and pl. 10, fig. 31, b, c.—Say’s American Entom. i. This insect is about two inches in length: the prevailing colour glaucous, inclining to grey. The head is black, and armed with a strong horn which is curved backwards. The thorax is variegated with black and grey, and has three horns projecting from its anterior part, one in the centre slightly curved downwards and hairy on the under side, and two lateral ones which are short and acute. Elytra glaucous-grey, with numerous large spots of black. The under side of the body, and legs, are wholly black. The female is without horns, and differs from the other sex.in the colour of the elytra. Inhabits Carolina, Virginia, and other North American states. “It is so extremely rare in Pennsylvania,” says Mr Say, from whose handsome work on American Entomology the accompanying figures have been taken, “that the late Rev. F. V. Melsheimer, the parent of Entomology in this coun- try, and a very industrious collector, found but two individuals in eighteen years. An instance has however occurred, in which the appearance of a considerable number of them occasioned no little Pu ACTUE 2s Scarabaeus Tityus. l. male 2. female. LEAS SC PLATE 13. Java. Scarabacus Atlas. LiUYLarS Se. iS COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 209 surprise in the neighbourhood where they were dis- covered. A mile or two south of Philadelphia, and near the river Delaware, an old cherry-tree was blown down by a violent current of wind, and my informant saw the remains of numerous individuals, in and about the cavity of the tree laid open by the shock of its fall. That there might be no mistake, he exhibited the thorax of a male he had chosen from the mutilated fragments. I think it highly probable that the 7%tyus is more especially a native of the southern states, as my friend Mr J. Williams presented me with several specimens in high pre- servation, collected by himself in Maryland, and from them the drawings for the annexed plate were made.” SCARABZUS ATLAS. PLATE XIII. Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 542.—Fabricit Syst. Entom. p. 8.—Sca- rabeeus Hector? Dejean. This very singular and conspicuous insect is en- tirely of a black colour, tinted with greenish bronze, especially on the elytra, the whole surface being smooth and glossy. The head is armed with a very long acute horn, which is slightly recurved, and has a double row of serratures on its inner side. Two similar horns project, one from each side of the tho- rax, which are without teeth, acute at the tip, and Oo 210 NATURAL HISTORY OF slightly curved towards eachother. From the an- terior part of the thorax, immediately over the head, there issues a short triangular horn, which is direct- ed forwards. The scutellum is very large and tri- angular ; the elytra are smooth and shining ; and the under side of the body, and legs, black. The anterior tibiz have three acute teeth on their outer edge to- wards the apex. It is a native of Java, where it is considered rare, although we have seen six or eight specimens in a single collection of insects from that country. It likewise occurs, but much less frequently, on the continent of Asia, the individual figured having been taken at Rangoon in India. SCARABZUS MACROPUS. PLATE XIV. Fic. 1. Kanguroo beetle, Shaw's Nat. ralist’s Miscellany, ccclxxx. 4. This very remarkable-looking insect was first made known to the public by Mr Francillon, who is sup- posed to have received it from South America. The individual which he described appears to be the only one that has occurred, and it is now said to be preserved in the rich cabinet of Mr Macleay. Until the discovery of the insect next to be de- scribed, there was no lamellicorn beetle that bore much resemblance to it; but that species partakes in some measure of its peculiar characters. Of PLATE 14. ‘ ~ LLVLATS Si |. Scarabacis macromts. 2.Chry Sophora chrvsochlora. ; ieee Pe ‘ ‘eee: COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 211 these, the most singular are the length of the hinder legs, and the extraordinary thickness of the thighs, which exceeds any thing that is observed in such as exhibit a structure of this kind. The whole of the upper surface is smooth, and of a bright green colour, and the under side is golden yellow and copper coloured. The antenne and tarsi are brown- ish black. CHRYSOPHORA CHRYSOCHLORA. PLATE XIV. Fic. 2. Melolontha chrysochlora, Latr.—Voy. de MM. Humb. et Bonpl. ii. 15, 1 fem. 2 male. Latreille assigns as the distinguishing marks of this genus, which was first-proposed by Count De- jean, the great size of the hinder legs, the thicken- ed hinder thighs, and the curved tibiz, which ter- minate in a strong projecting point at the internal angle. It contains only two or three species, of which that above referred to is the most remarkable. It was discovered by MM. Humboldt and Bonpland in Peru. It is of a brilliant green on the upper side, but on the under parts of the body coppery red is the prevailing hue. The thighs and posterior tibiz are of the latter colour; and the tarsi, which have the joint that bears the claws very large and club-shaped, are brownish. The elytra are thickly covered with large excavated points, but the head 212 NATURAL HISTORY OF and thorax are comparatively smooth. The female is much smaller, and the hinder thighs are not so thick as in the male. Like the common Cockcha- fer, this species lives in society, and was sometimes observed in great numbers by the distinguished tra- vellers who first brought it to Europe. RUTELA PULCHELLA. PLATE XV. Fic. 1. Kirby, Linn. Trans. xii. p. 405, pl. 21, fig. 10. This genus includes such insects as have the hin- der thighs scarcely differing in the two sexes; the scutellum rather small, and the pointed process of the sternum short, and not reaching to the insertion of the forelegs. The terminal joint of the maxillary palpus is large and ovate. The body is of an oval form. The species given as an illustration of this generic group is a native of Brazil. It is about eight lines and a half in length, of a fine yellow co- lour inclining to green. The thorax is green in the middle, and yellow on the sides and anterior edge. The elytra are thickly covered with small punctures, which have a tendency to form lines: the colour is yellow, with the region of the scutellum, and a curvy- ed band behind the middle, green. PLATE. 15: l. Ruteta puithella. 3. Meloloutha Fullo. male. 2. Macraspis fiicata . 4 Female “arya a f : neers A ia) Gaia INES i ‘ Aga ev Tm kh nile. ny ’ eae ae Bye Hs i oe TEM oo . we - ig oi Lt

Fic.'s- Olivier, v. No. 81], pl. 1, fig. 15.—Attelabus ruficollis, Fabr. Spec. Insect. The head of this species, which is said to be a native of Siberia, is reddish in front and black be- hind ; the antennz are of the latter colour, with the base red. The thorax is red and unspotted. The elytra are smooth and shining, of a fine blue, faintly marked with punctures which form indistinct lines. The under side of the abdomen is black, with the margin reddish. ‘The legs are of the latter colour. It is between two and three lines long. In the genus RuyncuirTEs the head is inserted into the thorax as far as the eyes, and the rostrum is a little enlarged at the extremity. The abdomen is nearly square. About seventeen different kinds inhabit Britain, and many of these are insects of great beauty, especially R. Bacchus, which is found chiefly in the county of Kent. 234 NATURAL HISTORY OF RHYNCHITES POPULI. PLATE XX. Fic. 4. Curculio populi, Linn. Degeer.—Attelabus populi, Fadr. In this well-known species the body is smooth and shining, of a golden-green or bluish tint on the upper side, and dark violet colour beneath ; the an- tenne and tarsi black. The elytra are rather irre- gularly punctured. In one of the sexes there is an acute spine on each side of the thorax, projecting - forwards. The ordinary length of the insect is nearly three lines. It is found on poplar and birch trees, in England and on the Continent of Europe. RHYNCHITES PUBESCENS. PEATE: XX Fres5. Attelabus pubescens, Fabr. The body is rather more elongate in proportion to its breadth than in the preceding species. The whole body is of a deep violet colour, and clothed with rather long hairs. The snout is shorter than the thorax, and, together with the antenne, black. The elytra are marked with regular punctured lines. The legs are the same colour as the body, but the tarsi are black. Length three lines. It inhabits France, Germany, and England. PLATE: 21, S Lazarssi 1. Brentus ancharago. 2. Rhina barbirostris. 5. Curculio Cuvier it. 4.Curcitlio Geoftrovu.5.Circulio vittalius. 6. Curculio sphacelatus. %; OH COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 235 RHYNCHITES COLLARIS. PLATE XX. Fic. 6. Antribus collaris, Fabr. Syst. Eleuth. The body of this small insect is covered with short pubescence: the snout is rather long, de- pressed at the apex, and of a black colour, as well as the antennz. The thorax is very smooth, and reddish: the elytra deep blue, pretty regularly stri- ated: the under side and legs black. Found in Carolina. The very remarkable genus Brentus has filiform antenne, occasionally with the last joint thickened —the rostrum very long and advanced—the whole body unusually narrow, and the penultimate joint of the tarsi bilobed. BRENTUS ANCHORAGO. PLATE XXI. Fie. 1. Curculio Anchorago, Linn.—Degeer, Mem. Insect. v. 273. Body very narrow and elongate, shining black ; the markings differing a little in the two sexes. In the male the head has a groove in front, which is wanting in the female. In the latter the thorax is somewhat contracted in the middle, and in both sexes it has a groove extending from the middle to 238 NATURAL HISTORY OF the base. ~ The elytra are scarcely wider than the base of the thorax, deeply grooved near the suture, and marked with punctured lines on the sides, each of them with two narrow lines of reddish yellow. The anterior thighs are furnished with a small tooth on the under side. Like all the other species of the genus, this insect lives under bark, and is often found on the stems of old trees congregated in hundreds. RHINA BARBIROSTRIS. PLATE XXII. Fic. 2. Latreille, Hist. Nat. des Crust. et des Ins. 11, p. 102.—Cur- culio barbirostris, Fabr. The species given as an example of this genus— which may be briefly characterised by the elongate shape of the terminal joint of the antennz, and the length of the fore legs—is found at the Cape of Good Hope. It is entirely of a black colour, ex- cept the hairs on the rostrum, which are reddish yellow. The rostrum or snout is longer than the thorax, trifid at the point, and tuberculated above. The thorax is rough with deeply impressed punc- tures, and bears yellowish hairs on the sides and beneath. The elytra are marked with closely placed lines of deep square punctures, the spaces between which have a few short hairs. The anterior legs are much longer than the others, and all the tibie are armed with a few remote spines. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 237. Although now much restricted in its application, the genus Curcu io still contains a great variety of species. In al! of them the penultimate joint of the tarsi is deeply bilobed, and the antenne are com- posed of eleven joints, of which the three last form aclub. The grooves on the sides of the rostrum, for receiving the antenne, are oblique, and converge towards each other on the under side. Many of the species are of large size, and such as frequent the foliage of trees are often adorned in the most sumptuous manner. This is particularly the case with several South American kinds, which are co- vered with a coating of scales of the most sparkling brilliancy, equal to the “ illumination of all gems.” These are accordingly highly prized by collectors, a single specimen of C. regalis having been once sold at Paris for L.23 sterling. The British weevils that present most analogy to these favoured crea- tures belong to the genera Phyllobius and Polydru- sus; but though of great beauty, their comparatively small size renders them less striking. CURCULIO CUVIERIL. PLATE XXI. Fic. 3. Geonemus Cuvierii, Guerin, Voyage de la Coquille. Of a fine green colour, with a stripe of black down the middle of the rostrum and thorax. The elytra are suddenly narrowed at the apex, and have 238 NATURAL HISTORY OF a band of black in the centre of each, which does not reach the extremity. The under side and legs are green. CURCULIO GEOFFROYII. PLATE XXI. Fic. 4, Geonemus Geoffroyii, Voyage de la Coquille. Brilliant green, glossed with violet. The rostrum has a narrow impressed line down the middle, and there is a similar one in the centre of the thorax. The elytra are striated, and marked with four cross bands of deep black, of which the second from the base and that next the apex are abbreviated, and the third dilated on each side of the suture. This and the preceding species were obtained in a recent French voyage of discovery round the world. CURCULIO VITTATUS. PLATE XXI, Fic. 5. Fabricius, Ent. Syst.—Linn. Syst. Nat. Rostrum and thorax black, the surface smooth and shining: elytra with punctured lines, a broad white stripe at the side of the suture, a broader one of a red colour in the middle of each, and a third narrower than the others, towards the outer mar- gin: the apex greyish: the legs and belly black; Americ AMETIC (Sp) LGurculio Latreillii. 2.Curcilto sexdecempurncvalus eit 0. luralio nyrmosarius.4.Curculio brunneus, 5. talandra heros. LUA SC. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 239 the stdes 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. XX Frexc: Herbst. Coleopt., vi. pl. 67, fig. 12.Olivier, v. No. 83, pl. 20, fig. 253. The antenne, 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, Fic. 1. Cyphus Latreillii, Schenherr. This beautiful insect is entirely of a light green glossed with golden yellow, and of great brilliancy, 240 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 isa 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. Fic. 2. Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 618, No. 92.—Fabr. Ent. Syst. 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 antenne are of the latter colour. A native of South America. CURCULIO MYRMOSARIUS. PLATE XXII. Fic. 3. Rhigus myrmosarius, Schenherr. 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 brownish. It is found in South America. CURCULIO BRUNNEUS. PLATE XXII. Fic. 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 CaLanpra is known by its nine-joint- ed antenne, 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- Q 242 NATURAL HISTORY OF 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 CALANDRA HEROS. PLATE XXII. Fie. 5. Fabr.—Olivier, v. No. 83, pl. 28, 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 tibia somewhat curved on the 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- nz. 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 larve 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- bits of animals which pass their lives in cylindrical excavations 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 extreniities 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 OF never fails to approach the mouth ef 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 eee 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. PLATE 23 Neue ioe” Pog Prionis Cert tcornis. Lr PIC 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 antenne are longer than the head and thorax, and sometimes serrated or pectinated ; whence the generic name, from TpLwv, @ saw. The terminal lobe of the max- ill 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, pl. 2, fig. 8, a, b—Cerambyx cervicornis, Linn. —Merian. Surin., pl. 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 NATURAL HISTORY OF 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 therest: they have likewisea 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. This 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 prac- * PLATE 24. 1 va \ ayer. l. Lrionius corticinis, 2. Lophonocerus barhicornis. LI2ZGTS $C Cee art Se ae seen COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 247 tice has been noticed in a large species of Oncyde- 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. eervicornis is said to live in the wood of the Gossampinus, and is frequently used as an article of food. PRIONUS CORTICINUS. PLATE XXIV. Fic. 1. The body of this species is rather depressed. The head and antennz 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 Cerambycide 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 antenne ;—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 XO DVeehiGs2. Cerambyx barbicornis, Olivier, iv. No. 67, pl. 7, fig. 48.2— Linn. Fab. This genus is chiefly distinguished by the circum- stance from which it derives its name,* viz. the * From Aces, a tuft, and xseas, a horn. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 249 fascicles or tufts of hair with which several of the intermediate joints of the antenne 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 at the 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 Linnzeus 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 in an oval joint, which tapers to a point. The outer lobe of the under jaws 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, or HARLEQUIN BEETLE. PLATE XXV. Fic. 1. Cerambyx longimanus, Zinn.—Prionus longimanus, Fab. —Olivier, iv. No. 66, pl. 3, fig. 12, pl. 4, fig. 12. It is distinguished generically by having a move- able tubercle on each side of the thorax terminating inaspine. This is certainly one of the most singular of coleopterous insects, whether we regard the propor- tions of 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 of them, certain hieroglyphic symbols pourtrayed 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 antenne are about twice the length of the body, and of a black colour, except the base of the joints, which PEATE 25. oie a ike Le ee eee be Se, 2. Lamia siubocetllati. lLAgocinus longiimanis Lina t COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 254 is greyish. The head is ornamented with two tri- angular patches of réd, 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- secé ; 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 tibize 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 ; these 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 tree 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 es SV NATURAL HISTORY OF 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 for 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, tom. xxi. 180. 2 <9 PLATE 26. taiia ornata. 2 Lamia tormosa. 3, Desmocerus cvaneus. 4 Lamia tricinetia. COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 253 and a considerable number occur in Europe. Only two kinds appear to inhabit Britain. LAMIA SUBOCELLATA. PLATE XXV. Fic. 2. Cerambyx subocellatus, Olivier, iv. No. 67, p. 69, pl. 2, fig. 12, a, 0. 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 of 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. Fic. 1. Cerambyx ornatus, Olivier, iv. No. 67, pl. 4, fig. 24, a, 6. 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 NATURAL HISTORY OF 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 AXViI. Fic. 2. Olivier, iv. No. 67, pl. 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. Fic. 4. This very fine species is about an inch and a half in length. The antenne 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 are similar in colour to the thorax, the back COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 255 usually somewhat shining, and the whole surface is thickly 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 LEPTURIDA, the example figured is named DESMOCERUS CYANEDS. PLATE XXVI. Fic. 3. Stenocorus cyaneus, Fabr.— Olivier, iv. No. 69, pl. 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 Sacra, which has the palpi terminated by an oval joint, the thorax cylindrical, and the antennz 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 Illustrations de Zoologie, pl. 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 tibiz 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 tibie 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 Cassip, or Tortoise-beetles as they are sometimes called, are chiefly remarkable for a habit PLATE 27. JSagra Lugiuet. 1. male. 2. temale. PLATE 28: MUCTUOSA, l. Cassida bicornis Bo Scalaris. Top eT aT. A eGhrizaiz. ‘ae Patoraa. 6. Lizars si COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 257 which they practise in common with several allied kinds, that of covering their bodies, when larvee, 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. Fic. I. Fabr. Ent. Syst.—Olivicr, vi. No. 97, pl. 4, fig. 59. The colour of this insect is bluish green, except ' the antennz, 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. R bo OT ie 6) NATURAL HISTORY OF CASSIDA SCALARIS. PLATE XXVIII. Fic. 2. Fabr. Syst. Eleuth.—Olivier, vi. No. 97, pl. 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. Fic. 3. Fabr, Syst. Eleuth.—Olivier, vi. No. 97, pl. 5, fig. 83. In this insect the antenne 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. Fic. 4. Fabr. Syst. Eleuth.—Olivier, vi. No. 97, pl. 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. Fic. 5. Fabr. Syst. Entom.— Olivier, vi. No. 97, pl. 4, fig. 58. 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 OF CASSIDA LUCTUOSA. PLATE XXVIII. Fic. 6. Olivier, vi. No. 97, pl. 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. Fic. 1. Fabr. Syst. Entom.—Olivier, 97, pl. 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. ALURNUS MARGINATUS. PLATE XXX. Fie. 1. The Alurni have antenne of equal thickness 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 tibiz, and tarsi, being black. CLYTHRA HIRTA. PLATE XXIX. Fie. 2. Fabr. Syst. Eleuth.—Olivier, No. 96, pl. 2, fig. 18. The head, thorax, and scutellum, as well as ail 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 NATURAL HISTORY OF CHLAMYS MONSTROSA. PLATE XXIX. Fic. 3. Fabr. Ent. Syst.—Olivier, vi. No. 96, pl. 1, fig. 1, a, 3. 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 ;* 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 toa 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 CUPREUS. PLATE XXX. Fie. 2. The Eumolpi differ from the allied genera in hav- ing mandibles of ordinary size, and the second joint of the antenne 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 EZ. 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 antennz 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 24 NATURAL HISTORY OF being embellished with agreeable combinations of scarlet, 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 different kinds inhabit this country; of these perhaps the most beautiful is named CHRYSOMELA CEREALIS. PLATE XXX. Fic. 3. Linn. Syst. Nat.—Fabr. Syst. Entom.—Donovan’s Brit. In- sects, iv. pl. 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 antennz 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. L. Cassia sexpustulata. ?. Clyihra hart. 4A Dorphora tessellata. § LI ObVLUS AEST IO. Led J 7 DNS PUTSTIOSA 6. Sphenescus erotvloides Lizars se. wv COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS 26 CHRYSOMELA FASTUOSA. PLATE XXX. Fic. 4. Linn. Fabr.—Donovan’s Brit. Insects, vi. pl. 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 (Zamium album), and occurs not un- frequently both in England and Scotland. DORYPHORA TESSELLATA. PLATE XXIX. Fic. 4. Olivier, v. No. 91, pl. 1, fig. 6. This genus is well discriminated from the other chrysomelinz 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 chrysomelz 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 dogugogos, a pike-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. Fic. 5. (Edionychis is one of the sub-genera into which the extensive genus Haltica of Linnzus 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 antennz 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 Cua- COLEOPTEROUS 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 intoa 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 ua- 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., Fic. 5. Fabr. Ent. Syst.—Olivier, v. No. 89, pl. 2, fig. 12, a, d. It is about an inch long; the head, antennz, 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. Fic. 6. Kirby, Linn. Trans. xii. pl. 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. PLATE 30. Britain. 5 Samt D omingp. AM TUS MAP aus 4. (Arvsomada rasttlose 1 Z Lurnopus CUpT CALS: 9. Edionyvchis cancty 5. thiysomela cerealis 6. Coccinella 22-punctati Bidar * #* +. izentteA be — COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS, 269 The fourth general division of the Coleoptera, named TrimErRa, 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. Fic. 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. THE END. i