514 MISCELLANEA ENTOMOLOGICA, NO. IV. 



Sub-family HEL/EIDES. 



Labial palj)! strongly separated at the base. Inner lobe of the 

 maxillje armed or not with a corneous hook. The last article of 

 the maxillary palpi strongly securiform. Mandibles bifid at the 

 apex. Head short, deeply sunk in the thorax — the clypeus square, 

 rarely narrowed in front, and separated from the forehead by an 

 arched groove or suture. Antennae slender, the third joint very 

 elongate, the rest obconic, the last three, four or five joints 

 moniliform, perfoliate, forming an indistinct mass. Prothorax 

 emarginate in front, and foliaceous on the sides ; elytra for the 

 most part similarly margined. Scutellum large, curvilinearly 

 triangular. Anterior haunches cylindrical and transversal, anterior 

 tibiae almost always terminated by a single spur, the intermediate 

 and posterior by two short and in general strong spurs ; the tarsi 

 ciliated or pubescent beneath. Intercoxal projection variable. 

 Metasternum of varying length, the episterna narrow, parallel^ the 

 epimera distinct. — -The mesothoracic epimera large, closing on a 

 large extension of the intermediate cotyloid cavities. 



Lacordaire, from whom the foregoing description is translated, 

 divides the Helieides into those with foliaceous margins to the 

 thorax and elytra (Heleides vrais), and those without these dilated 

 margins {Nyctozdilicles). The first of these sub-divisions only forms 

 the subject of my present paper. His other sub-division (the 

 Nyctozoilides) consists of several genera, mostly Australian, but 

 departing so largely from the true Helfeus form and habit, that I 

 cannot regard them as properly entering into the same group. 



The Helgeides jjroper then or true Helaeides, are insects of lai'ge 

 size, of flat, rotund form, with broad foliate mai-gins to the elytra 

 and thorax ; the genei^a into which they are divided however, 

 showing considerable departures from all these characters, which 

 reach their extreme development in the typical genus Helceus. 

 They naturally form two easily recognizable sections. 1st., Those 

 with wings, and consequently with an elongate metasternum, 

 containing the genera Encara and Pterohelceus. 2nd., Those without 

 wings, and with a short metasternum, the genera Helceus, Syvipetes, 



