| OCR Text |
Show ~7Q INSECTA. Of these latter, those spec~es whose. labial ~alpi are evidently longer than the external maxtllary palp1, and Wlth the penult.imate joint longer than the last, form two subgenera. • MEGAOEP~ALA, Lat. Labrum very short and transvet·sal; first joint of the labi~l palpi much longer than the second, and projecting beyond the men. tum(l). Ox:YoHEILA, Dej. The labrum forming an elongated triangle, first joint of the labial pal pi not much longer than the second, and not extending beyond the ema1·gination of the mentum(2). In the following species the labial pal pi are at tnost about the length of the external maxillary pal pi, the last joint is longer than the penultimate. 'fhey also form two subgenera. EuPnosoPus, Lat. Dej. The third joint of the labial pal pi thicker than the last; the three first joints of the anterior tarsi of the males somewhat elongated, flattened, carinated beneath, and equally ciliated on both shies; very large eyes. They keep on tl'ees(3). CIOINDELA, Lat. The true Cicindelce only differ from the Euprosopi in the third joint of the labial pal pi, which is not much thicker than the fourth; and in their anterior tarsi, whose three first joints, in the males, are much elongated, more strongly ciliated on the internal side than the external, and are destitute of a carina beneath. Their body is usually of a darker or lighter green, mixed with ~arious brilliant metallic tints; the elytra are marked with white spots. They prefer dry, warm situations, run with considerable swiftness, take wing the moment they are approached, but alightat --- ---~- -~ - ~------'--------:-- (1) Cicin¢ela megalocepltala, Fab.; Oliv., II, 33, 11, 12; C. carolina, Oliv. lb., xi, 2;-Megaceplwla euphratica, Hist. Nat. des Coleop. d'Eur., I, 1, 2. For the other species, see Dejean, Species des Coleoptcres, I, p. 6, et seq. In the United States, Meg. carolina and Meg. virginica, both beautiful species. .O.m.Ed. (2) Cicindela tristis, Fab.; Oliv., Coleopt., IT, 33, iii, 35; Oxyclteila tristis, Dej., Species Gener. des Coleop. I, p. 16;-0icindela bipustulata, Lat.; Voy. de Humb. et llonpl.; Obser. d' A nat. et de Zool., No. Xlll, xvi, 1, 2. (3) Oicindela 4-notata, Hist. Nat. des Coleop. d'E01·op., I, i, 6; Eupro~ophU' 4-notatus, Uej., Spec. Gener. des Coleopt. I, p. 151. COLEOPTERA. 271 a short tlistance. . If pursued they have recourse to the same means of escape. The larv.-c of the two species indigenous to France, the only ones h t have been observed, excavate in the earth a deep cylindi'ical ht ~e an operation which they effect with their mandibles and feet. 0 To e' mpty it, they place the detache cl part1•c I es on the1. r head, turn bout 'climb up the ascent little by little, resting at intervals and ;lingi~g to the walls of their domicil by means of their two dorsal mammillre; when they arrive at the mouth of the aperture they throw ' down their burden. While in ambuscade, the plate of their head exactly closes the '~ntrance of their cell, and is on a level with the ground. They seize their prey with their mandibles, and even dart upon it, and by a see-saw motion of their head precipitate it to the bottom of the hole. Thither also they quickly retreat on the least intimation of danger. If they are too confined, or the soil is not of a proper nature, they construct a new habitation elsewhere. Such is their voracity that they devour other larv<£ of the same species, which have taken up their abode in their vicinity. When about to change their tegument or to become pupre, they close the opening of their cell. Part of these observations were communicated to me by the late · M. Miger, who had carefully studied many lat·v::e of Coleoptera~ and discovered several which ha.d escaped the researches of naturalists. C. campestris, L.; Panz., Faun. Insect. Germ. LXXXV, iii. About six: lines in length; gt·ass-green e.bovc; labrum white, slightly uniclentated in the middle; five white points on each elytra. Very common in Europe in the spl'ing. C. hybrida, L.; Pam;., lb., iv. Two crescent-shaped spots, , and a white band on each elytron; one of the spots at the exterior base and the other at the end; suture cupreous. In sandpits, never mixing with the campestris( 1 ). The C. germanica and some other species have a narrower and mot·e elongated form, and seem to constitute a particular sec- (1) Add, Cicindela sylvatica, L.; Clairv., Entom. Helv., II, xxiv, A;-C. simata, f'ab.; Chirv., lb., ll, b;-C. germanica, L.; Panz., Faun. Insect. Germ. VT, v. For these and other European species the Ilist. Nat. des Coleop. d'Eur. of Lat. anrl Dej~ fascic. I, p. 37, et seq.-and in general the Species Gener. of Count Dejean; see also the work of Curtis on English Insects. Ad~ of Amf;rican species the C. unicolo1·,~6-guttata, rugifrons, patruela, concenta· nea, signata, blanda and the C. lepida, Le C., nov. spec. ined.; the C. obliqu~ta: repanda, albohirta, laticincta, formosa, marginata, va1·iegata, unipunctata, margtmptnnia, abdominalia, 12-guttata, jle3--uosa, obscura, pusilia, punctata, pulcltra, and the C. denticJtlata he2morrhoidalis and splendida, new species of Hentz. .B.m. Ed. |
