OCR Text |
Show 422 INSECTA. In the other subgenera of the same division, the mentum 1.' • • 1'0 rms a transverse square, the nuddle of the super1or margin proJ'ectin . f . . g lh the manner o a t•o oth, enure or ema.r gmated. The maxi!!....,. are entirely corneous and •resemble mand1bles terminated by a stou inclined, elongated tooth, either entire and very obtuse at the en~' or divided there into two or three points. The mandibles are alway; scaly and robust. The labrum is exposed. Some, peculiar to Australia, have a sternal point; their tarsial crotchets are entire and unequal. Such is the 'ANoPLOGNATnus, REPSIMus, Leach. The antenn::e are composed of ten joints, and the extremity of the maxillce is truncated, or obtuse and entil·e. These Insects a1·e gene: rally large and ornamented with brilliant colours(l). The others, proper to the hot climates of both continents, are destitute of the sternal projection; the crotchets of the tarsi, or one of them, are bifid; their maxillce frequently terminate by two or three teeth. Sometimes the antcnnce consist of ten joints, and the superior ex· tremity of the jaws is entire or at most emarginate or bidentate. In LEuooTHYREus, Mac Leay. One of the tarsial crotchets is entire and the other bifid. The tarsi, at least the anterior ones, are furnished with a brush beneath; the latter are dilated in the males. The under part of their head is more densely pilose than in the females(2). In APoGONIA, Kirb. Mac Leay. All the crotchets of the tarsi are bifid( 3 ). Sometimes the antennce consist of but nine joints, and the extre· mity of the maxillce presents three teeth. In GENIATEs, Kirb. The extremity of the mandibles is emarginated. Under the men· tum of the males we observe a sort of circular brush formed of com· pact hairs, plane or incised like a whisk (en maniere de vergette). which is the type of the genus, the thorax must be destitute of horns, and the an· terior tihi~ are tridentate on the outer side; but two teeth are found in the same of Pachypus. (1) See IJor. Entom., I, 143, and Lin. Trans., XU, p. 401, 405. (2) Jlor. Bntom., I, p. 145;-Melolontha sulciClJllis, Germ., Insect. Spec. Nov., p.124. (3) Kirb., Lin. Trans., XU, p. 401;-A. gemellata, ejusd., lb. XXJ, 9. COLEOPTERA. 423 The (our first joints of their anterior tarsi are dilated and furnished nderneath with a brush. One of the crotchets of all the tarsi is ~ntire and the other bifid. The anterior of the two first is accomaniect' at its base by a corneous lamina, emarginated inferiorly and ~ounded at the end, forming a so1·t of spur( 1 ). A second division of the Xylophili, which will comprise the MeJolonthiclre of Mac. Leay, presents the following characters: the labrum is in the form of a transversal leaflet, most commonly strongly emarginated underneath in its middle, so that viewed fr~m before, it bas almost the figure of a reversed and semi truncated heart. The mentum is as long as it is broad, or longer, somewhat narrowed before the summit, and either square or almost cordiform; its superior margin is straight, or more or less emarginated or concave in the middle, but without any dentiform dilatation. 'rhe maxillce are usually scaly and armed with several-commonly five or six-teeth. This division may be separated into two sections, one of which will embrace the genus Melolontha of Fabricius, as restri~ted by IJJiger and myself, and the other that of Hoplia, Lat. The first of these subdivisions may retain the name of Melolonthid;e, and the other receive that of Hoplid{JJ. The first may be described as follows. The number of perfect leaflets of the club exc.eeding three in several. The body extremely thick. Mandibles stout, wholly or mostly corneous, presenting at most a membranous and pilose appendage, situated in a cavity or emargination of the inner side; the supe1·ior extremity strongly truncated with two or three teeth or angular projections. All the tarsi terminated by two crotchets; the first joint of the two anterior ones not prolonged inferiorly into a hooked appendage. Labrum usually apparent. Maxillary teeth robust. In those species of the Melolonthidce, Fab., which compose the subgenus MELOLONTIIA, Fab., Or Melolontha properly so called, the antennce consist of ten joints, of which in the males, the last six or seven, and in the females, the last six or four, form the club. The labrum is thick and strongly emarginated beneath. All the hooks of the tarsi are equal, terminate in an entire point, and are simply unidentate at base. The pos- (1) Kirby, Lin. Trans., XII, p. 401;-Geniates barbatus, lb., XXXI, 8. The Melolonthre obscura, lanata, Fab., the species called nigrifrons by M. Stevens, and deacribed in the Synon. Insect. of Schamherr, I, 3, App. 115, and probably other species, seem to form a separate subgenus allied to that of Geniates, but with undilated tarsi, |