30 BULLETIN 63, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



The genera ciui also be defined by the male genital characters as 

 follows : 



Sternite (fig. ti, IMate (>) with lobes fully and strongly connate; clavse dorsal 

 to the edeagus, connate forming a pallium {■shnilis, inucroiiatu) {Blaptini) 



BUii)H. 

 Sternite distinctly bilobcd, lobes ccniiiected by a membrane that at most is but 

 feebly chitinized, lobes capable of abduction { Elvodiiiii). 

 Clavaj veutrad to the edeagus. 



ClaviB spiculiform, notched at side of the ti])s; ahe more or less strongly 

 inflexed, not prominent ventrally, plane or somewhat concave, never 



strongly convex (Plate 7, fig. 1) Eleodes. 



Clavie flattened (liguliform), of equal width throughout, tip obtuse 

 and rounded : ah^ short, not strongly inflexed, giving attachment to 



subahe (Plate 7, fig. 8) Eleodimorpha. 



Clav.e laterad to the edeagus, truncate at tip, more or less concave beneath; 

 alte moderately and evenly inflexed, rather prominent ventrally (Plate 

 7, fig. 7) Enibaphion. 



Troffloderns has the lobes of the sternite united l\y membrane and 

 capable of abduction. Unfortunately the clava? could not be studied 

 without destruction of the fragile material at hand. 



Genealo<jy. — The antecedents of the present tribe are not suggested 

 to my mind l)y the data at hand. 



The male sexual characters are the most distinctly differentiated 

 for the generic subdivision of the tribe. The above synoptic table 

 indicates these relationships just as forcibl}'^ as a diagram could do 

 where there are so fcAV elements involved. 



The genera are related, first, by the l)ilobed sternite, the lobes 

 being capable of abduction ; second, by the relation of the clavse to the 

 edeagus; third, by divergence having taken place along the line of 

 degree of development in the ala^. 



In Eleodimorpha the subala? have been differentiated as distinct 

 sclerites from the ala\ 



In Eleodes and Emhaphion the extrusion of the edeagus with 

 simultaneous abduction of the clavse, is brought about by muscular 

 action — certain extrusor muscles; the return of these structures is 

 accomplished by the inherent elasticity of the alae, the latter being 

 the continuously produced and inflexed sides of the apicale. 



It is logical to suppose that accompanying the differentiation of 

 the subala; as distinct exoskeletal elements that there has been a 

 corresponding muscular differentiation ; for when the continuity of 

 the ala^ underwent solution, they in all probability were no longer 

 capable to functionate by their own inherent resiliency — of course, 

 it is possible for the continuity of the elements to be restored by 

 becoming connate at a sutural line; but this would evidentlj?^ still be 

 a weak point and correspondingl}^ diminish the functional activity 

 of the part. 



