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Show 486 INSECTA. STEROPES, Stev.-Blastanus, HofYm. 'Vhere the antennre arc terminated by three cylindrical joints much longer than the preceding ones( l ). In NoToxus, Geoff. Oliv.-Anthicus, Payk. Fab. Or Notoxus properly so called, whe1·e the antenn~ enl~r.ge 'insensibly and are almost entirely composed of obcomcal JOl~ts, and where the thorax is obovoid, narrowed and truncated postenorly, or divided into two globular points. Some species, such as theN. monoce1·os; Meloe monoceros, L.; 01. c 1 III 51 1 2 have a lJrojecting horn on the thorax. lV., 0 ., , ' ' ' . , The body is two lines in length, of a light fulvous colour, with two points at the base of each elytron, and a transverse band curved towards the suture, black; the horn is dentated. or those in which the thorax is destitute of a horn, some are ap· terous(2). The two last tribes of this family and of the section of the Heteromera present certain common characters, ~uc~ as man· dibles terminating in a simple point ; the pa~p1 fihform, or merely slightly thickened towards the extremtty, but never ending in a securiform dub; the a~domen soft.; . the elytra flexible, and in most of them epispastic; ~ll the JOlllts of the tarsi, some few excepted, entire, and the1: hooks generally bifid. In a perfect state they are all herb1vorou~,. but seve· ral in their first state, or that of larvre, are parasitical. ;I'he HoRIALES, composing the :fifth tribe, differ fro~ tho~e which constitute the sixth, or the CANTHARIDIJE, m their hooks which are indented and accompanied (each) by a ser· rated' appendage. These Insects have filiform antennm~ as long, at most, as the thorax, a small labrum, strong and sahen~ mandibles, filiform palpi, square thorax, and very robust pos terior legs at least in one of the sexes. . The me't amorphoses of the S potted H orm· , an Insect. mba· biting the Anti1les and South America, are described 1ll the t 1) Steropes caapi us, Stev., Mem. Nat. Mosc., I 1 1..6 6 , x, 9 ' 10·1 Fisch., Entomog. Jmp Russ IJ xii, 6; Schrenh., Synon. Insect., I, Il, 54. th 1 ..; (2·) See .O, liv' ., Col., and Encyc. Method.; Schrenh., I b'd The Odacan il ' ' J • pttsttslata of Fabricius is a Notoxus. COLEOPTEUA, 487 fourteenth v~lume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London; Its larva destroys that of a species of XylocopaTeredo; X. moria, Fab.-which perforates the dead trunks of trees, ~nd deposits its ova there in the manner of other Xylocopre. The author of the Memoir alluded to suspects that the larva of this coleopterous Insect lives on the provisions destined for the other, which consequently is starved to death. This tribe is com posed of the genus HoRIA, Fab. These Insects inhabit the intra-tropical countries of South America and of the East Indies. One of these species, from ~he latter, is removed from all others by its head, which is narrower than the thorax, and by its posterior thighs which are strongly inflated, a character which perhaps only belongs to one of the sexes. It is the type of my genus Cissites( 1 ). The sixth and last tribe, that of the CANTHARIDil£, is distinguished from the preceding one by the hooks of the tarsi, which are deeply cleft, and seem to be double. The head is usually large, wider, and rounded posteriorly. The thorax is commonly narrowed behind, and approaches the form of a truncated heart; in others it is almost orbicular. The elytra are frequently somewhat inclined laterally, or tectiform, flattened, and rounded. These Insects simulate death when they are seized, and several, thus situated, produce a caustic yellowish liquid of a penetrating odour, from the articulations of their feet; the organs which secrete it have not yet been detected. Various species-Meloes, Mylabres, Cantharides-are employed externally as epispastics, and internally as a powerful stimulant; the latter use of them however is extremely dangerous. This tribe is formed of the genus MELOE, Lin. Which has been divid~d . into several others. The anatomical ob- (1) See Lat., Gcncr. cr11st. et Insect., II, p. 211; Fabricius, Schrenherr, Olivier, and the Transactions of the Linne an Society already quoted. |
