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Show 410 INSECTA. niform than foliaceous, approach the Lamellicornes of the second tribe, where in fact they have been placed by M. Mac Leay; but in the ensemble of theit· other characte1·s they belong to this section. Their labium is broad, ciliate, quadridentate, and completely ex. posed. Their mandibles are ro~ust, in.the fo1·m of an elongated tri· angle and have two teeth on the mnet· s1de. The two maxillary lobes are c~riaceous and without any kind of armature. The body is uar. row, elongated, and almost cylindrical; the thol'ax is longitudinal and separate'cl from the abdomen by a deep strangulation; the abdo. men is elongated, and the anterior tibire are wide, digitated, and furnished on the inner side, after the spur, with a tooth, silky at the end. The thighs are lenticular, and the two anterior are the largest. There is a transverse range of small tubercles on the anteriorextre· mity of the head( 1 ). Those of others are composed of eleven joints(2). Some are distinguished from all others by the antennal club in the form of a reversed cone, which consists of joints or leaflets contorted into a kind of funnel and fitting concentrically into each other, and b their mandibles, the inner side of which is entirely serriform, and which present underne~1.th, particularly in the males, a projection or horn. In these individuals the thorax is deeply emarginated before, and its angles project considerably forwards. The abdomen is verr short, almost semicircular, and the last legs near its extremity. The labial pal pi are a little longer than the others; their second joint is elongated, and the two others are almost equal in length. The inner side of the maxillre is furnished with hairs and cilia, in the form or little spines, and their terminal lobe is narrow and elongated. The mentum is triangular, and transversely truncated at its extremity. Such are those which form the LETHRus, Scop. Fab. The species, but few in number, are peculiar to Hungary and the eastern part of Russia. L. cephalotes, Fab.; Fisch., Entomog. Russ. Imp., I, p. 133, XIII, 1. This Insect, distinguished from the other species by its entirely black colour, and smooth thorax and elytra, accord· ing to professor Gothelf Fischer, is extremely noxious in culti· (1) Sinodendron digitatum, Fab.; Chiron digitatus, Mac Leay, Hor. Entom.,l, p. 107; Diasomus digitatus, Dalm., Ephem. Entom., I, p. 4. (2) This supputation is sometimes doubtful, inasmuch as it is not always easy to distinguish the joint that precedes the club, and that it may, apparently, seem confounded with the first of the club itself. The base of the second also formll tort of knot or rotula that may be taken for a joint. COLEOPTER.\. 411 vated grounds, as it attacks the scarcely visible buds and leaves of plants, and cuts them off with the trenchant forceps of its mandibles, a habit which in Hungary, where it does great injury to the vines, has caused it to be styled the Schneider, or Cutter. As tht- pectus projects greatly under·neath the abdo· men, and the hind legs seem to be inserted very near the anus, it is a good climber, and in descending moves backwards. After having amputated the heart of a plant, it descends with its prey, which it transports to its hole. Each of these holes, which are made in the earth, is occupied by a pair, but in the nuptial season a strange male frequently claims admittance. A furious combat is the consequence, during which the female closes the entrance of the domicil, and keeps continually pushing her companion forwards. The battle only ceases with the death or flight of the intruder. The same savant describes-Ibid., p. 136, 140 -three other species hitherto unknown. In all the other Arenicoli the antenna\ club is composed of the ordinarily shaped leaflets, laid one on another, or like the leaves of a book. They form out· subgenus GEOTRUPEs, or the Scarabreua, Fab., from which the following subgenera have since been detached. ·Those, in which the antenna\ club is oval or ovoid, and of which the edges of the leaflets are totally or partially exposed even when c~ntracted, form two of them. In GEoTRUPEs, Lat. Or Geotrupes properly so called, the labrum is a transverse square, entire or simply dentated; the mandibles are arcuated, highly compressed, dentated at the extremity, and frequently sinuous on the exterior side and the maxillre furnished with a very thick fringe of hairs; the last joint of the maxillary pal pi is not larger than the preceding one, while the same of the labial pal pi is longer; the mentum is profoundly emarginated; the anterior tibire are elongated, their external side is furnished with nu.m.erous teeth, and the extremity on the opposite side with a single spur or spine; the epistoma is lozenge-shaped. Sometimes the thorax of the male is armed with horns. They .are the Ceratophyus of Fischer, or .llrmidens, Ziegler. G. typhreus; 8. typh~ua, L.; Oliv., Col. I, 3, vii, 52. Black; three projecting black horns before the thorax of the male, of which the intermediate is the shortest; elytra striated. In high and sandy localities. . . G. momus; 8. momus, Fab . This species, discovered m Spun by count Dejean, differs from the Typhreus in the smoothness of the elytra; it is otherwise similar. |
