460 INSECTA. 



some authors have placed certain species in genera of a similar form 



but otherwise very different, such as Spheridium and Tritoma. him 

 N. ceneus^ Fab.; N. viridescens, rufipes, var., Id.; Oliv., Col., 

 II, ii, 12; III, 20, a, b; V, 33, a, b. Small; form, an oblong 

 ovoid; of a brilliant bronze-green and multi-punctured; antennae 

 blackish, terminated by a very large obtuse club ; thorax trans- 

 versal, slightly emarginated anteriorly, and bordered laterally ; 

 legs sometimes blackish brown, and sometimes fulvous *. 

 Here the second and third joints of the antennae are almost equal in 



size, and the club is elongated in the form of a reversed cone, or is 



pyriform. 



CERCUS, Lat. CATHERETES, Herbst. Illig. I)ERMESTEs,Lm. Fab. 

 SPHERIDIUM, Fab. Gyll. NITIDULA, Oliv. 



The body depressed, and elytra truncated; two first joints of the 

 antennae much larger in the males of some species than in the fe- 

 males, and perhaps this subgenus should consist of such only, refer- 

 ring the others to Nitidula f . 



There the tibiae are long, narrow, and almost linear; the elytra 

 cover the abdomen and are not truncated. 



The body is oval, thorax trapezoidal, and the antennal club ob- 

 long; its two first joints are nearly equal, and the third is hardly 

 longer than the fourth. Such are the 



BYTURUS, Lat. Schcenh. DERMESTES, Geoff. Fab. Oliv. IPS, 



Oliv. I 



Those that compose our sixth tribe, that of the ENGIDITES, analog- 

 ous to the Nitidulariae in the emargination of the extremity of their 

 mandibles, are distinguished from them by their not projecting, or 

 but very little and simply on the sides, beyond the labrum. Their 

 body is oval or elliptical, and the anterior extremity of the head 

 slightly extended into an obtuse or truncated point. The tarsi con- 

 sist of five || distinct joints, entire, and at most, slightly pilose under- 

 neath ; the penultimate is somewhat shorter than the preceding one. 

 The antennae terminate in a perfoliaceous triarticulated club ; the 

 elytra completely cover the abdomen, and the palpi are somewhat 

 thicker at the extremity. Some very small species inhabit the inte- 

 rior of houses, and are frequently found on windows. 



We will unite them all in a single genus, that of 



DACNE. 



DACNE, Lat. ENGIS, Fab. Dej. EROTYLUS, Oliv. 

 Their antennae terminate abruptly in a very large orbicular or 



* See Fabricius, Olivier, Gyllenhal, Schoenherr, &c. 

 f See Gyllenh., Insect. Suec. I, p. 245. 

 J See Schoenh., Synon. Insect. I, ii, p. 95. 



|| Certain Cytophagi, or at least their males, according to some authors are 

 heteromerous. 



