588 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. 57. 



A reconstruction of the present classification with due regards to 

 the larvae should not be undertaken before an independent, com- 

 prehensive classification of all significant larval types is completed. 



Usually the results of taxonomic studies on the larvae do harmonize 

 with some or other system already used or proposed for the adults, 

 thus emphasizing the value of that particular system. In several 

 cases, however, certain larvae or larger groups of larvae do not fit 

 into the schemes of any established system and for such larval forms 

 a new appropriate taxonomic arrangement will have to be assigned 

 in papers exclusively dealing with larvae. 



In an obvious way the Clerid larvae represent this latter type of 

 larval forms, and the classification of the Clerid larvae will clearly 

 illustrate how much a taxonomic arrangement of the adults and the 

 corresponding larvae can differ. The customary systematic se- 

 quence of the genera of the adult Clerids has been changed in the 

 classification of their larvae; one of the genera which in the adults 

 is considered homogenous must be divided in the larval taxonomy; 

 while in another case two genera which are separated in the adults 

 have been united in the arrangement of the larvae; and finally the 

 Clerid larvae have been grouped together with larvae of other fami- 

 lies to form a new series to which no corresponding series exists in 

 the adult taxonomy. 



C. a. LAKVAL CHARACTEKS DEFINING THE FAMILY SERIES CLEBOIDEA.^ 



The family Cleridae is, according to the adults, by most authors 

 placed in the family series Serricornia, but the Clerid larvae can only 

 be associated with the larvae of part of the families of the Serri- 

 cornia, namely with those of the Malachiidae, Malacodermidae, 

 Throscidae, Eucnemidae, Rhipiceridae, and the Elateridae. They 

 are, however, also closely related to the larvae of some of the families 

 which belong to the series Clavicornia, namely the Dennestidae, the 

 Trogositidae, and the Parnidae; so are the larvae of the other men- 

 tioned Serricornia. Together all these families constitute a series for 

 which I propose the name Cleroidea and which is defined by the fol- 

 lowing combination of characters: 



1. LEGS WITH FDSED TAKSUS AND CLAW, " CLAW-SHAPED TARSUS." 



This character separates the Cleroidea from the Adephaga with 

 the Gyrinidae, from the Ehysodidae and the Cupesidae, all of which 

 have a definite tarsus and one or two claws; also from the first larval 

 stage of the Micromalthidae, close to the Cupesidae, which have a 

 long, slender tarsus and two claws, and apparently from the first or 

 triungulin stage of some of the Meloidae. The Staphylinid genus 



* The following taxonomic discussion is based on a joint study on the characterization 

 of Coleopterous larvae families, undertaken by Dr. F. C. Craighead and the author, 

 A. G. Boving. 



