POLYMORPRA SCAPHIDIIDAE SYNTELIIDAE 



229 



Fam. 24. Scaphidiidae. Front coxae small, conical; prothorax 



very closely applied to the after-body ; bind coxae transverse, witlcl;/ 

 separated : abdomen with six or seven visible ventral plates ; 

 antennae at the extremity with about Jive joints that become 

 <l fa dually broader. Tarsi Jive-jointed. This family consists of a 

 few beetles mat live in fungi, and run with extreme rapidity ; 

 they are all small, and usually rare in collections. Some of the 

 exotic forms are remarkable for the ex- 

 treme tenuity and fragility of the long 

 antennae, which bear fine hairs. The 

 number of described species does not at 

 present reach 200, but the family is very 

 widely distributed. We have three or 

 four species in Britain. All we know of 

 the larvae is a description of 'that of 

 Scaphisoma agaricinum by Ferris; 1 it is 



like the larva of Staphylinidae, there are 

 nine abdominal segments in addition to a 



FIG. 108. Scaphisoma agari- 

 cinum. Britain. A 

 Larva (after Perris) ; B 

 perfect Insect. 



very short, broad pseudopod, and very short 



cerci. This larva feeds on agarics ; 'it goes through its development 



in about three weeks ; unlike the adult it is not very active. 

 Fam. 25. Synteliidae. Antennae davicorn, with very large 



club : labium, with hypoglottis and the parts beyond it, exposed. 



Front coxae transverse. Abdmni'ii with Jive visible ventral segments, 



and eight or nine dorsal, the b/ixidfour of which are semi-corneous. 



This family includes only five species; its clas- 

 sification has given rise to much difference 

 of opinion. We have, after consideration 

 of all its characters, established it as a 

 distinct family 2 allied to Silphidae. The 

 perfect Insects live on the sap running from 

 trees : but nothing else is known of their 

 natural history. Like so many others of 

 the very small families of aberrant Cole- 

 optera, it has a very wide distribution ; 



PIG. \Q9.-Syntelia west- fyntelia being found in Eastern Asia and 

 modi. Mexico. (From Mexico, while the sub-family Sphaeritides 

 occurs, as a single species, in Europe and 



f 



Biol. Cent/: Amer.) 



North America. The earlier instars are unknown. 

 1 Larres dc Coldopteres, 1878, p. 11. pi. i. - Biol. Centr. Amer. Col. ii. pt. i. p. 438. 



