PAUNIDAE. 163 



Elytra entire; epiplcurjc narrow, soinclinics extending to 

 the apex. 



Abdomen with five, in Psephenns with six 9 or seven 

 J* ventral segments, the anterior ones eounate. 



Anterior coxjb transverse, with large trochantin, or 

 rounded, without trochantin; middle coxa3 oval, not con- 

 tiguous; posterior coxas transvervse, dilated into a plate 

 partly protecting the thighs, approximate in the first and 

 second sub-families; distant and not forming a plate in 

 Elmidte, 



Legs slender, usually long; tibiae without distinct terminal 

 spurs; tarsi 5-jointed, joints 1-4 short, equal, fifth longer 

 than the others conjoined, large, with large simple claws. 



A family containing tliree ver}' distinct sub-families, and show- 

 ing very diverse affmities not only with the preceding and fol- 

 lowing families, but also, by the form of the anternia^ of various 

 members, with the Gyrinidas, and with some families of the Serri- 

 corn series, especially the Dascyllidai; a more distant relation- 

 ship with the Donacia tribe of the Chrysomelid:\!, by the form of 

 the tarsi of Ha^monia, has also been i)ointed out by Lacordaire. 



AbdouK^i with more than five ventral segments ; anterior coxc-c with very 

 large trochantin. Psepiienin^. 



Abdomen with five ventral segments; 



Anterior coxse transverse, with distinct trochantin. Parninte. 



Anterior coxae rounded, without trochantin. Elmin-e. 



Sub-Family I._PSEPHENIN^. 



The head is free, not retractile; the mouth infeiior; the maxil- 

 lary palpi very long, gradually dilated, the last joint securiform; 

 the anterior part of the front is very prominent, and the upper 

 face concave ; the antennae are inserted at the sides of the front, 

 distant, longer than the head and thorax, serrate; the eyes are 

 large, convex, finely granulated. The anterior coxa; are large 

 and globular, the coxal cavities prolonged externally, showing a 

 very large trochantin; the prosternum is carinate, and i(s poste- 

 rior process is long and narrow; the mesosternum oblique, chan- 

 nelled : the side pieces of the mctasternum are wide, and the 

 epiuun-a visible ; the posterior coxie dilat<Hl into a plate ; the 

 epipleurae are narrow, and continue to the apex; the % aI)domen 

 has seven ventral segments, the first and second comiate, the fifth 



