OCR Text |
Show 406 INSECTA. resents horns or projections which distinguish them from the fe. p . . f h males. In several, the tht·ee last JOints o t e antennre are semi. cupular and concentric~l.ly piled or. fitted in~o. each other. They compose the genera Omits and Coprts of Fabrtctus. Two subgenera with a foliaceous antenna} club present a charac. ter which, in this section, is exclusively peculiar to them: the third joint of the labial pal pi is but slightly or not at all distinct, and the second is larger than the first. 0NITIOELLus, Zieg. Dej. The body is oblong and depressed; the thorax large, nearly oTal, and almost as long as it is wide, and always smooth. The scutellum is distinct. Simple elevated lines or tubercles on the head distin. tinguish the males from the females( l ). 0NTHOPHAGus, Lat.-Copris, Fab. No scutellum. Their body is short, thorax thick, br·oader than long, either almost semi-orbicular or nearly orbicuhn·, but strongly emarginated or truncated before. The head, and fr·equently the tho· rax, of the male is furnished with horns. 0. taurus; S. taurus, L.; Oliv. Col. I, 3, viii, 63. Small; black; two semicircular horns on the head of the male; two transverse and elevated lines on that of the female. In cow· dung. 0. nuchicornis; 8. nuchicornis, L.; Panz., Faun. Insect. Germ. I, and XLIX, 8. Small; black; elytra grey with little black spots; a compressed laminiform projection terminating in an almost straight point on the hind part of the head of the male; two ele· vated and transverse lines on that of the female; a tubercle on the anterior of the thorax. With the preceding. Africa and India produce several other species, some of which are very brilliant, but they are all small(2). Two subgenera presenting a scutellum, or sutural hiatus indi· eating its place, in which the anterior legs are ft·equently destit.uteof tarsi, and frequently also longer, more slender and arcuated m the males, are distinguished from all other Coprophagi by the form of their antenna} club; its first joint, or the seventh of the whole num· ber, is semi-cuculliform and receives the following one, a portion of which at least is concealed and is shaped like a horse-shoe; the third or last is in the form of a reversed cup. The thorax is large, and (1) Dej ., Catalogue, &c., p. 53. (2) Dej., Ib. See Lilt., Gener. Crust. et Insect., 11, p. 83. COLEOPTERA. 407 usually presents two little fossula: near the middle of the posterior margin. In ONITis, Fab. The second joint of the labial palpi is the largest, and the scutellum, though very small and depressed, is still visible. The anterior legs are generally longer,. more slender and arcuated in the males. The tarsi are usually deficient, and the thorax, that of a small number excepted, is without horns( 1 ). PHANEUS, Mac Leay.-Lonchophorus, Germ.-Scarabreus, L.-Copris, Onitis, Fab. Where the first joint of the labial palpi is the largest and dilated on the internal side. A simple sutural hiatus indicates the place of the scutellum. The males differ greatly from the females in the horn-like prominences of their head and thorax; but the respective length of the legs is the same. Several large and beautiful species of Copris, Fab., peculiar to America, compose this subgenus(2). CorRxs, Geoff. Fab.-Scarabreus, Lin. This subgenus, or Copris properly so callecl, is at present composed of those species only, whose antenna: are terminated by a trifoliate club; in which the four posterior tibia: are strongly dilated and truncated at the extremity; that have neither scutellum nor hiatus; in which the hody is always thick, and differs above according to the sex, and whose labial pal pi are composed of three distinct joints, of which the first is the largest, almost cylindrical and not dentated on the inner side. The largest species belong to those parts of Africa or India that are situated between the tropics or in their immediate vicinity. C. lunaria; 8. lunaris, L.; Oliv ., lb., v, 36. Eight lines in length; black, very glossy; the head, emarginated at the anterior edge, is provided with a long horn, longer and pointed in the· male, short and truncated in the female-S. emarginatus, Oliv., lb., viii, 64-thorax truncated before, with a horn on each side; elytra deeply striated(3). (1) See Encyc. Method., article Onitis. (2) See Encyc. Method., article Pltanee, and p~rticnlarly the Hor. Entom., I, p. 124. The author of the latter refers to it the following Scarabreides of Olivier: St. bellicosus, lancifer, jasius, mimas, beelzebut, festivus, carnifex, &c. (3) The Copris: .!lntenor, Hamadryas, Midas, gigas, bucephalw, molomu, h · |