PEDIACUS.—PARAPHLMUS. 509 
and antenne. It can be readily distinguished from our other species by the less dull 
upper surface, and by the smaller eyes; the minute angle behind these organs is 
consequently less concealed. 
PARAPHLCEUS, gen. nov. 
Mandibule subtus processu brevi laminiformi armate. Genee anterius processu brevi, introrsum vix curvate. 
Acetabula antica haud ocelusa. Tarsi tenues, quadriarticulati. 
The above characters, brief as they are, separate two species of small Coleoptera from 
other Cucujide, and I do not think their location in any other family would be at all 
satisfactory. I regret that the material at my disposal does not enable me to state the 
structural characters with the fulness and precision necessary for deciding on their 
affinities; but the points I am able to state will, I think, lead to their identification. 
The general appearance is that of the elongate Lemophlei, such as L. clematidis, 
but the tarsi are very slender, and I am not able to detect more than four joints on 
any of the feet; in addition to this, the curious descending process at the base of the 
mandible is very unusual, but is found in certain Lemophlai. The two species will 
perhaps prove to belong to different genera. The characters will be taken, however, 
from Paraphleus crassiceps. 
The antenne are rather short, eleven-jointed, the terminal three joints perceptibly wider than the others. 
The mandibles are rather long, and are so much curved and arched that they greatly conceal the other 
parts of the mouth, but they are not co-adapted, meeting only at the tips, where they cross a little and 
are apparently bidentate. The labrum is not visible, but the epistome is produced in a subtriangular 
process directed downwards; the mentum is directed inwards and, I think, is surmounted by a large 
ligula (somewhat of the nature of that of Prostomis), the front margin of which is in apposition with that of 
the epistome (or more probably of the labrum concealed under this). The labial palpi appear to be two- 
jointed, the terminal joint acuminate. The maxille cannot be seen, but the palpi apparently have a 
terminal joint shaped like that of the labial pair. The gene are in front thick and slightly prominent, 
and just in front of them is a process descending from the base of the mandible. The eyes are distant 
from the front of the thorax and placed quite near the base of the antenna, The front coxe are small and 
globose, moderately separated by the prosternal process, which is bent upwards behind them; their 
acetabula are scarcely at all prolonged externally, and not closed behind, though the form of the parts would 
lead one to suppose they might be closed. The prosternal sutures can scarcely be detected, and the 
lateral margin of the thorax also is obsolete. The middle coxe are moderately separated. The meta- 
sternum is elongate. The hind coxe are slightly separated by a very short obtuse abdominal process. 
There are five subequal ventral segments, not connate. The legs are slender; the four posterior tarsi 
slender, with the basal three joints short, subequal, the terminal joint elongate. On the front feet I am not 
able to see more than three joints. 
The North-American genus Narthecius has lately been the object of a renewed study 
by Capt. Casey (Ann. N. York Acad. v. p. 321, 1890), and, judging from the information 
he gives, there is little doubt that it is allied to Paraphlwus. He assigns a place in 
the Passandrine to Narthecius, though the characters he mentions scarcely justify the 
selection of this position. But whatever may prove to be the case with Narthecius, I 
think it impossible to place Paraphieus in Passandrine, the essential character of that 
