a Family of Coleopterous Insects. 6l5 



and especially the pentamerous tarsi in many of the genera of 

 that family; such as Catogeiins, Clbndium, Eliysocles, Sfc; upon 

 which point I further beg leave to refer the student to my 

 paper " On the Affinities of CUnidium" inserted in the 18th 

 Number of the Zoological Journal. 



The following is a Synoptical view of the genera belonging to 

 the family, and subsequently described. 



rCaput(ocellisduabus)tlioraceimmersum. .3. Hylolorus. 

 rPalpi labiales articulo 1 „ n 



Antennae quasi 



Caput (ocellis ,.■ i . / ■ 



>: ^ I ultimo elongato . . . ) 



nullis) coUo < p^j i j^y^,^^ ^^jj^^^j; 

 L in^t-ctum. [ ^^^„^,.^„, } 4- PlatyrUpalus. 



i/lytia subqua- i ^ r v i ultimo elongato . . . ) 



J dratajpalpilaJ Wa^iculatae. nullis) coUo < p^jpj j^y^,^^ ^^^j^^j; 



Antennae quasi 10-articulatae 5. Cerapterus. 



.Antennoe quasi 6-articulat£e : . . . 1. Pentaplatarthrus. 



Elytra subovata; palpi labiales brevissimi 6. Trochoideus. 



It will at once be perceived, that the characters laid down 

 above tend, in some respects, to give us only an artificial result; 



resemblance is fully confirmed by the similarity in the structure of the trophi, although 

 the tarsi (according to the tarsal system) would remove the genera far asunder. 



Since the preceding observations were written, Mr. Curtis with his usual ability has 

 illustrated the genus Nemosoma : but in his observations upon its affinities, by again 

 implicitly following Latreille as his guide, he has remarked, " Nemosoma is placed by 

 Latreiile between Cis and Cerylon, and there can be no doubt that it belongs to the 

 BostrkidcE; but never having had an opportunity of examining this rare insect until 

 now, I have arranged it in my Guide between Bitoma and Rhyzophagus, but its natural 

 situation will be near Cis and Apate." — Now I do not hesitate to state, that the rela- 

 tionship of this genus with Cis or Apate is of the most remote and unnatural kind, whilst 

 its affinity with Ips, Cerylon, Rhyzophagus, Sfc. is perfectly evident from Mr. Curtis's 

 own delineations of several of these and allied genera, especially in tlie structure of the 

 maxillae; and I am convinced tiiat no one on comparing them together and with Sturm's 

 dissections of Trogosita, and my own o[ Temnosclieita (Zool. Journ. no. 18.), can pos- 

 sibly adopt Mr. Curtis's views, or will doubt that Trogosita is the type of a group of 

 genera including those above mentioned. But it is riot in the perfect insect alone that 

 we are to search for correct ideas of the affinities of the Coleoptera. The larvae, as I 

 have before stated, affisrd the most important clues to their discovery ; and Mr. Curtis 

 will be surprised to learn that Nemosoma is chilopodiform ; Cis chilognathiform, hex- 

 apod, forked-tailed ; and Scolytus an apod-larva. 



VOL. XVI. 4 K indeed 



