CLASSIFICATION. The enormous numbers of beetles do not adequately impress us, since bee tles are less on the wing, and hence we see them less than flies, wasps, butterflies, or motbs. The form and variatiod of the external parts arc almost wholly used to determine their classifica tion. The present number of described species is not far from 150,000, of which more than 11,000 species inhabit America north of Mexico, repre senting 83 families. The old snbordinal di visions—Clavicornia, Serricornia, etc.—based on the shape of the antenme, are no longer accepted as seientifie, and in their place various subdi visions have been proposed. A commonly accept ed classification is the following, based on the tarsi: (I) Cryptotetramera-4 joints in the tarsus, one rudimentary: Coeeinellidle and Endo mychida.. (2) Cryptoprntainera-5 joints, one being abortive: Ch rysomel bite, Cerambyeidre (longhorns), Cureulionidie. etc. (3) Ileteromera—fou• front tarsi five-jointed, bind tarsi four-jointed: Meloidm, Stylopi&e, Tenelirionid:c. etc. (4) Pentaniera—five-jointed: Ptinid:e, Cleridx, Lampyridx, Elatericke, Bu prestidie ( serricorns ) , Sea rahaddai (lamelli corns), Hydrophilidai, etc., including about half
of all known beetles.
Many of these. and other families, will be found described elsewhere, in their vocabulary places. See also English names of groups or species, as ROVE BEETLE; FIREFLY; BOMBARDIER BEETLE; STAG BEETLE, etc.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. For general works, see INBibliography. For general works, see IN- SECTS. For the most recent and only complete classification of North American Coleopte•a, con;n1t: Le Conte and Horn. A Classification of the Coleoptera of 1\orth America, Smithsonian Institution (Washington, 1883) ; Leng and Beutennitiller published serially in the Journal of the New York Entomological Society for 1894 :17 the early parts of a Handbook of the Coleop (era of Northeastern America; and Canadian beetles are covered by a long series of articles by F. H. Wickham in the Canadian Entomologist (London, Ontario, 1894-99). Most of the litera ture applies to single families, and will be found mentioned underneath the accounts of these given elsewhere.