1<JG J. L. LECONTE, M. D. 



larj^er size and stouter form enables the important characters of the 

 under surface to be studied with more ease than the other species. 



Commencing then with the head, we find the following resemblances 

 between the CupcsidiC and the Rhysodidae: 



1. In (Uiprs the eyes are almost smooth as in lihi/.inJes, though the 

 very small lenses may be perceived under the epidermis; in Friacmu 

 the eyes arc very finely granulate, but not smooth. 



2. The lobed head of Citp^.t and the form especially of the hind part, 

 and its junction with the prothorax are all suggestive of Rh^soJes. 



3. The prothoracic episterna are separate in Capes and Priacma, 

 though wider aad more distinct in the latter. 



4. The front coxae are peculiarly small in both families. 



It is also to be considered that in other characters these two families 

 in question differ very greatly. The front coxal cavities are entirely 

 enclosed in llhysodidae, while they are open behind and partially 

 formed by the mesosteruum in Cupesidse. The middle coxae are widely 

 separated in the former, quadrate and contiguous in the latter. The 

 hind coxje are widely distant in Rhysodidae; transverse, meeting on 

 the median line, and extending to the side of the body in Cupesidae. 

 The basal ventral segment of the abdomen is visible at the sides and 

 at the middle in Rhysodidae, while it is entire and uninterrupted in 

 Cupesidae. 



We thus see that the two families diflFer from all other Coleoptera 

 in the characters which they possess in common ; while in those by 

 which they differ from each other, (many of which I have not men- 

 tioned), they agree with some other families or genera. 



I think therefore that we are justified in regarding them as frag- 

 ments, widely separated it is true, of a series of Coleoptera existing 

 in former times, which was of an undifferentiated nature. This series 

 was the original stem, or contained the ancestry, if I may use the 

 realistic expressions of a modern school, of the several series which are 

 comprised in the now existing great complex of normal Coleoptera, with 

 the penultimate joint of the tarsi not anchylosed to the last joint. This 

 complex consists of the series Adephaga, Clavicornia, Lamellicornia 

 and Serricornia. 



To attempt to intercalate such anomalous families as Rhysodidae and 

 Cupesidae among the families which properly constitute the four series 

 above mentioned, would be like finding a place for Archiropteri/x in 

 our classification of existing birds; Ctrntmlus, Lepldosteus and Ltpi- 

 ihsiren among normal fishes, or Prof. Marsh's Dinocerata among recent 

 mammals. 



