M, Schiodte on some species of Staphylinidse. 223 



new genera. They agree with Lomechusa and Dinar da, in having a 

 corneous hook on the end of the interior lobe of their maxillae, but 

 in other respects they present characters in the construction of the 

 parts of the mouth and of the tarsi, which strikingly separate them 

 from all other genera of that group. The abdomen is constructed in 

 a most extraordinary manner, being membranaceous, of an enormous 

 size, bent upwards so as to cover the thorax, and fixed in this po- 

 sition by the dorsal faces of the second and third segments having 

 grown together. 



Of one of the genera, which I have named Corotoca, two species 

 are known to me {Corotoca Melantho and C. Phylo) ; they are about 

 3 millim. in length from the front to the end of the second segment 

 of the abdomen. Of the first of these I have observed both sexes. 

 The male is a little smaller than the female, but otherwise only to be 

 distinguished by the dissection of the organs of generation. 



Of the other genus, named by me Spirachtha, the male is still un- 

 known to me. The abdomen is furnished with three pairs of appen- 

 dages, which are elongate, cylindrical, 2-jointed, membranaceous, and 

 moveable by mu-scles at the base. These appendages are perhaps in- 

 tended for the same purpose as the tufts of hairs on the abdomen of 

 the genus Claviger^ which are known to be sucked by the ants ; even 

 in Lomechusa there are similar hairy appendages on the sides of the 

 abdomen. Of this genus only one species is known to me {Spi- 

 rachtha Eury medusa), of about 2 millim. in length, from the front 

 to the end of the second segment of the abdomen. 



In the abdomen of both genera I have found eggs in different 

 stages of development, in Corotoca even eggs with fully developed 

 larvae ; so that, beyond doubt, these animals are viviparous. 



If the Strepsiptera are to be considered as belonging to the order 

 Coleoptera, an opinion which I endeavoured to prove as early as the 

 year 1840*, this will be the second instance of viviparous Coleoptera. 



Fam. Staphylini. 



Trib. Aleocharini. 



Genus Corotoca, 



Maxilla mala interiori cornea, uncinata. Palpi maxillares A-arti- 

 culati. Ligula lata, rotundata, paraglossia obsoletis. Palpi 

 labiates 3-articulati. Tarsi A-articulati, posteriores articulo 

 primo valde elongato. Abdomen membranaceum, fr actum ; 

 parte posteriori fixa, maxima, globosa, dorso anteriori animalis 

 superposita. {Kopr], tikt<jj.) 



1. Corotoca Melantho. Fusca, fronte foveolata, pronoto 

 midtifoveolato, disco bituberculato ; tibiis posterioribus fusi- 

 formibus, fuscis ; scutis ventralibus segmenti quarti quintique 



transvo'sis. — Mas, Fem. 

 Long, a fronte ad apicem segmenti secundi abdominis 2|^-3 mill. 



2. Corotoca Phylo. Fusca, vertice foveolato, pronoto multi^ 



* See the introduction to * Danmark's Eleutherata/ p. 21, note. 

 Ann. ^ Mag, N, Hist. Ser. 2. Vol xv. 15 



