270 COLEOPTERA OF NORTH AMERICA. 



explorer of the Amazon, in words so expressive that we cannot 

 forbear quoting them. 



" It is one of those groups of insects in which nature, in 

 striving after strong individnality in the species, seems to have 

 changed or adapted those parts of structure upon which we rely 

 for characters of genera and groups of genera. Tiie family, too, 

 is found tliroughout all parts of the world where woody vegeta- 

 tion exists, and has endured, probably, under the same laws of 

 modification, throughout long geological periods. The diversity 

 of specific forms seems endless, running into infinite varieties of 

 grotesque, ornamented, and extraordinary shapes ; and nearly 

 every species has structural peculiarities for its specific charac- 

 ters ; so tiiat in no family can genera be made so easily and 

 numerously as here. Analysis is too easy, and has already been 

 pushed, perhaps, to too great an extent." 



This family comprises three sub-families, as follows : — 



Prothorax margined ; labrum connate. Peioninve. 

 Prothorax not margined ; labrum free. 



Front tibia> not grooved. CERAMBYCiNiE. 



Front tibiae obliquely grooved on the inner side. Lamun^. 



Sub-Family I.— PRIONIN^. 



The insects of this sub-family are generally of large size, con- 

 taining in fact the longest Coleoptera known; the color is brown 

 or black, and the elytra usually coriaceous in appearance, becom- 

 ing metallic and of firmer consistence in some of the genera 

 with finely granulated eyes. The labrum is connate with the 

 epistoma. Tlie ligula is always entirely corneous, without dis- 

 tinct paraglossse ; the supports of the labial palpi are connate 

 with the ligula. The mandibles are strong, frequently elongated 

 in the males, and are destitute of membrane or molar tooth. The 

 lobes of the maxillte are small, the inner one obsolete, and the 

 last joint of the palpi is triangular. The antennfe are furnished 

 with poriferous spaces, varying according to the genus and tribe. 

 The prothorax is always distinctly margined, the front cox» are 

 transverse, with distinct trochantin. 



The raesonotum never has stridulating surfaces, such as are 

 seen in most other Cerambycida3 ; some of the species, however, 

 have the epipleurse covered with fi.ne transverse lines, and a noise 



