110 COLEOPTERA OF NORTH AMERICA. 



They live in mud, or under stones near water, and seem to be 

 intermediate between HydropliilidEe and Tricliopterygid;e. 



The name Microsporus Kolenati, is preferred by Crotch, 

 althongh more recent, on account of Sphnsrius having been pre- 

 viously used in botany. This change seems to us unnecessary. 

 The relations between this family and Trichopterygidse are so 

 obvious as to require no farther elucidation. 



Fam. XYIL— scaphidiidae. 



Mcntum large, quadrate ; ligula membranou.s, without 

 paraglosste; palpi 3-jointed. 



Maxillas exposed at the base, with two membranous lobes; 

 j)alpi short, 4-jointed, with the last joint conical. 



Antennae inserted at the margin of the front, which is sud- 

 denl}" contracted and prolonged into a short beak, capillary, 

 or slightly clavate, the last five or six joints wider than 

 the preceding ones, the eighth sometimes smaller than the 

 seventh and ninth, the first and second thicker than the third. 



Prothorax with the side pieces not separate; prosternum 

 not prolonged; coxal cavities rounded, widely open behind, 

 completed by the mesosternnm. 



Mesosternum frequently prominent or carinate, side pieces 

 usually divided by an oblique line; metasternum very large, 

 side pieces narrow, epimera not visible. 



Elytra broadly truncate behind, not covering entirely the 

 abdomen. 



Abdomen Math five free ventral segments; the fifth coni- 

 cal, as long as the three preceding ones; sixth usually visible 

 and when emarginate, as in certain males, permitting the 

 seventli or even the eighth internal ones to be seen ; the last 

 three or four dorsal segments are entirely corneous. 



Anterior coxte large, cylindrical, prominent, contiguous; 

 middle coxre small, rounded, widely separated ; posterior 

 coxre oval, usually widely separated. 



Legs slender; tarsi 5-jointed, long, filiform; claws slender, 

 simple. 



This family contains small oval, or rounded oval, convex, very 

 shining insects, living in fungi. The sides of the thorax are 

 oblique, and the head small, so as to make the body somewhat 

 pointed in front; the thorax is very closely applied to the trunk, 



