454 INSECTA. 



B. laevigata, Fab. This species might constitute a particular 

 subgenus. Its body is much shorter than that of the others 

 and extremely convex or gibbous. The antennae are granose 

 from the fourth joint. The anterior tibiae terminate in a stout 

 point or spine formed by a spur. 



It is stated by Fabricius that the Turkish women inhabiting 



Egypt, where the Insect is very common, eat the Blaps sulcata, 



cooked with butter, in order to become fat. The same author 



also says that it is used as a remedy for the head-ach, and the 



sting of a Scorpion(l). 



There, all the tibiae are angular with longitudinal ridges; the two 



anterior are wider and strongly dentated exteriorly. The thorax is 



dilated anteriorly, cordiform, and widely truncated. 



Gonopus, Lat. 



The third joint of the antennae is elongated and cylindrical as well 

 as the two or three following ones; those which succeed are granose; 

 the last is ovoid and somewhat longer than the penultimate. The 

 anterior margin of the head is concave, and the mentum forms a 

 transverse square. The inferior side of the thighs is trenchant with 

 a sulcus; the two anterior are furnished with a tooth, and the four 

 posterior tibiae are narrow, arcuated, and somewhat dentated; the 

 tarsi are glabrous(2). 



The other Insects of this tribe, with similar legs in both sexes, 

 differ from the preceding in their mentum, which occupies trans- 

 versely the greater portion of the under part of the head, and has 

 the form of a heart truncated inferiorly or at base. The thorax is 

 always transversal, emarginate or concave before and arcuated late- 

 rally, either trapezoidal and widest posteriorly, or strongly dilated 

 laterally and narrowed towards the posterior angles. The labrum 

 is emarginated. 



Most of these Insects are cinereous, and live on the ground in 

 sandy localities. 



Sometimes the thorax is widened before, or near the middle of 

 its sides, and narrowed posteriorly. The base of the jaws is ex- 

 posed. In 



Heteroscelis, Lat. 



We observe two stout teeth on the outer side of the four first tibia, 

 one in the middle, and the other terminal. The posterior extremity 



(1) The Blaps gages, sulcata of Fabricius. See the Catal. de la Coll., &c, of 

 Count Dejean. 



(2) Blaps tibialis, Fab. 



