FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. 



PHYTOPHAGA 



The tarsi are really 5-jointed but are usually referred 

 to as 4-jointed for the small nodule ("true fourth joint") 

 at the base of the long claw- joint is not usually counted. 

 With this convention and excepting the Spondylidae, 

 we may say that the tarsi are "apparently four-jointed, 

 the three basal joints usually densely set with cushion- 

 like pubescence beneath; the third joint different in form, 

 being divided into two lobes, or grooved on its upper 

 surface so as to allow of the fourth joint being inserted 

 near its base instead of at its extremity; head not forming 

 a definite prolonged beak; labrum always visible." Al- 

 most without exception, the larvae feed on some part or 

 another of plants. Although the families are sufficiently 

 distinct, once you know them, it is difficult to give a 

 satisfactory elementary key. 



SPONDYLID/E 



These are called Aberrant Long-horned Beetles and, 

 although apparently related to the Cerambycidas, they do 

 not fit in the system very well. The fourth tarsal joint is 

 distinct, though not large, so that the tarsi are clearly 5- 

 jointed; the tarsal joints are neither much dilated nor pu- 

 bescent beneath ; the antennas are short and inserted at the 

 sides of the head near the bases of the mandibles. Only one 

 genus, Parandra, and two species need be mentioned here. 

 Both are oblong, reddish to mahogany brown, somewhat 

 flattened, and varying from .4 to .75 in. in length. The 

 antennas reach about to the back of the pronotum; the 

 second joint about half as long as the third. In P. brunnea 

 the pronotum is distinctly wider than the head and punc- 

 tured; in P. polita it is not wider than the head and is not 

 punctured. Both breed in decaying deciduous and coni- 

 ferous trees, the adults usually being found just under 

 the bark. 



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