510 INSECTA. 



tirely black, with silky hairs at the extremity of the proboscis. 

 It lives on the pith of the Palms of South America. The inha- 

 bitants of that country consider its larva, called the ver-palmiste, 

 as a great delicacy(l). 

 In the fifth subgenus, or 



Cossonus, Clairv. 



We observe antennae hardly longer than the head and proboscis, 

 with eight joints anterior to the club. They are stout, and inserted 

 near the middle of the proboscis(2). 



The last or 



Dryopthorus, Schoenh. Bulbifer, Dej. 



With respect to the tarsi is anomalous. They consist of joints, 

 neither of which is bilobate. The antennae have but six joints, the 

 last forming the club(3). 



FAMILY II. 

 XYLOPHAGI. 



In our second family of tetramerous Coleoptera, we find the 

 head terminating as usual, without any remarkable projection, 

 in the form of a proboscis or snout. The antennae are thicker 

 near the extremity, or perfoliate at base, always short, and 

 consist of less than eleven joints in a great number. The joints 

 of the tarsi are usually entire(4), the penultimate being some- 

 times widened and cordiform in others ; in this case the anten- 

 nse always terminate in a club, either solid and ovoid, or tri- 

 foliate, and the palpi are small and conical. 



These Insects mostly live in wood which is perforated and 

 channelled in various directions by their larvas. When they 

 happen to abound in forests, those of Pines and Firs particu- 

 larly, they destroy in a few years immense numbers of trees, 

 which are rendered useless for any purpose of art. Others do 



(1) The genera Sipulus (Jlcorhinus, Dej.)- Oxyrhynchus, Rhynchophorus (Ca- 

 landra) of Schoenherr. See the article Calandre of* Olivier. 



(2) The genera Amorphocerus, Cassonus, Rhincolua, of Schcenherr. 



(3) Lixus, Lymexylon, Fab. 



(4) Their number in some appears to amount to five. These Insects seem to 

 connect themselves with the Crytophagi and other analogous Pentamera. 



