coleoptera

pl. [Gr. koleoptera, nom. pl. of koleopteros = sheath-winged: koleos, koleon =a sheath, a scabbard, and pteron =a feather, a bird's wing, a wing, from ptesthai, aor. inf in. of petomai to fly.] 1. Entom.: The name given by Aristotle, followed by all modern naturalists, to a great order of Insects, characterized by the po e ion of "sheathed wings." Of the four wings which the Coleoptera, like the other more highly organized insects, as a rule po e , the lower, i. e., the hinder pair, are membranous, and so large that when not in use they require to be folded both longitudinally and transversely. The anterior wings, which are horny or leathery in texture, are much smaller, and, folding over the others, protect them as a sheath does the sword or other instrument which it contains; hence the name Coleoptera (Sheath, or Sheathed-wings). (See etym.] The head has mandibles which move horizontally for biting purposes. It po e es in addition all the accompaniments and appendages of a mandibulate mouth. [MANDIBULATA.] The segments of the thorax are clearly separated, the prothorax bearing the first pair of legs, while the mesothorax and the metathorax (see these words) sustain the two other pairs, with the elytra and wings. The metamorphosis is is complete, the larvæ consisting generally of grubs with six genuine legs, and sometimes anal prolegs, the latter suggestive of the similar limbs in an ordinary caterpillar. The Coleoptera are popularly known as beetles, but everything called a beetle is not, scientifically viewed, a coleopterous insect: thus, the Black beetle belongs not to the Coleoptera but to the Orthoptera. [BLATTA, COCKROACH.] The Beetle order is, in the recent period, the most numerous of any, between 30,000 and 40,000 species being already known; nor has it as yet been proved to have been otherwise in geologic times. The basis of most ela ifications of the Coleoptera is that of Latreille, who made his principle of division the apparent joints in the tarsi, the following being the sections, in ascending order: Section I. Trimer a: Tarsi apparently with three joints. Section II. Tetramer a: Tarsi apparently with four joints. Section III. Heteromera: The first two pairs of tarsi with five joints, the remaining pair with four. Section IV. Pen tamer a: All the tarsi with five joints. Mt. Stephens divided them into six sections: (1) Adephaga, (2) Chilognathomorpha, (3) Helm in tho morph a, (4) Anoplurimorpha, (5) Heteromera, (6) Brach elytra. Swains on arranged them in five tribes, viz., Lamellicornes, Predatores, Mala coder mes, Monilicornes, and Capricornes. The Coleoptera pa pa ir to the Orthoptera by means of the Earwigs (Forficulide), which by some are placed within the latter order, while Kirby and others elevated them into an order of their own, Derm apter a (q. v.). 971 of the embryo, is covered with a cellular sheath, and gives rise to numerous fibrillæ similarly covered. But many endogens have no coleorhiza on their roots. It is called also a root-sheath.