198 Journal New York Entomological Society. [Vol. xxviii, 



need the writers have herewith endeavored to supply at the same time 

 including keys and the original descriptions of the genera and species 

 together with some notes on the distribution. 



The relationship of the Cupedidae to the other groups of Coleoptera 

 has long been disputed among systematists and the position of the 

 family is still uncertain. 



LeConte and Horn (12) have been followed by most American 

 students, including Blatchley (24), in placing the family in the Serri- 

 cornia. It has remained for Brues and Melander (28) to bring to 

 the attention of the American student the newer and more correct 

 viewpoint of the European Coleopterists in the relationships of 

 groups, and apparently they have followed Ganglbauer (18) more 

 closely. 



Sharp (22) has plafed the Cupedidae in the Polymorpha associated 

 with the Cucujidae but, as Gahan (26) has pointed out, his arrange- 

 ment of the Coleoptera was evidently not formulated with any par- 

 ticular regard to the phylogeny of the groups. 



Doubtless the most comprehensive treatise on the subject has 

 been published by Gahan (26) in which he treats of the results of 

 the studies of Ganglbauer (18), Lameere (14 and 19), and Kolbe 

 (16 and 20), in their attempts to classify the Coleoptera. He shows 

 that the more recent work of these systematists has resulted in the 

 placing of the Cupedidae, as follows: 



Ganglbauer (18) placed the Cupedidae in the Adephaga, believing 

 them to be a more modified family of that group; 



Lameere (19) placed the Cupedidce in the Cupediformia of the 

 Adephaga, believing them to be Adephaga of the most prim- 

 itive type; 



Kolbe (16) placed the Cupedidae in the Adephaga, but later (20) re- 

 moved the family to the Heterophaga or Polyphaga, erecting 

 the division Symphyogastra for their reception. 



Gahan (26) does not clearly commit himself as to where he believes 

 the family should be placed, but a careful study of his work shows 

 that he undoubtedly would place the family in the Adephaga and 

 would probably follow Ganglbauer (18) most closely. 



Kolbe (Gahan (26), p. 124) has shown that the wing venation of 

 the Cupedidae is nearer to the original type than all other Coleoptera. 



