The Descent of Man

the male of Crabro cribrarius (Fig. 9), it is the
tibia which is dilated into a broad horny plate,
with minute membraneous dots, giving to it a
singular appearance like that of a riddle. (7.
Westwood, 'Modern Class.' vol. ii. p. 193. The
following statement about Penthe, and others
in inverted commas, are taken from Mr. Walsh,
'Practical Entomologist,' Philadelphia, vol. iii. p.
88.) In the male of Penthe (a genus of beetles) a
few of the middle joints of the antennae are
dilated and furnished on the inferior surface
with cushions of hair, exactly like those on the
tarsi of the Carabidae, "and obviously for the
same end." In male dragon-flies, "the appendages
at the tip of the tail are modified in an almost
infinite variety of curious patterns to enable
them to embrace the neck of the female."
Lastly, in the males of many insects, the legs are
furnished with peculiar spines, knobs or spurs;
or the whole leg is bowed or thickened, but this
is by no means invariably a sexual character; or
one pair, or all three pairs are elongated, some-