CISTELIDAE. 389 



Fam. LX.— CISTELIDAE. 



Mentum small, trapezoidal, wider in front; ligula exposed ; 

 paraglossui distinct ; labial palpi 3-jointed ; gular peduuule 

 distinct. 



Maxillae with two flattened, ciliate lobes; palpi -i-jointed, 

 frequently long and much dilated. 



Head suddenly but only moderatel}'" narrowed behind the 

 eyes; neck thick, received by the prothorax; mouth mode- 

 rately prolonged; eyes not finely granulated, usually large, 

 transverse, and emarginate; anterior part of front subcoria- 

 ceous; clypeus not distinct (except in Stenochidus, where 

 the front is corneous, and the clypeus somewhat distinct); 

 labrum prominent; mandibles short. 



Antennte 11-jointed, long, more or less serrate, sometimes 

 nearly filiform, inserted under small oblique frontal ridges, 

 which do not reach the anterior margin of the front, and are 

 usually almost obsolete. 



Prothorax with epimera and e})isterna not distinct, lateral 

 margin obvious in our genera; anterior coxal cavities closed 

 behind, sometimes confluent. 



Mesosternum short, side pieces attaining the coxal cavities. 



Metasternum long in our genera; episterna narrow. 



Elytra rounded at tip; epipleurie narrow; wings perfect 

 in our genera. 



Abdomen with five or sometimes six ventral segments, of 

 which the first three are more closely connected, though not 

 connate; the hind margin of the third and fourth is coria- 

 ceous; intercoxal process acute, broadly triangular in Pro- 

 stenus. 



Legs generally long; anterior coxjc varying from globose 

 and subtransverse to conical ; middle coxaj with distinct 

 trochantin; hind coxte transverse, not widely separated in 

 our genera; tibial spurs distinct; tarsi usually lobed beneath, 

 anterior and middle ones 5-jointed, hind tarsi 4:-jointed ; claws 

 always distinctly pectinate. 



Tlie species of this family approach very nearly in orgaiiizatifjn 

 to the last tribes, or most degraded fonns of 'J'enebrionidcU; and 

 the degradation of strnctnre is carried still farther by the anterior 

 coxae becoming conical, prominent, and contiguous in certain 

 genera. The only characters to be relied on for the is(jlation of 

 this family are — 1st, the pectinate claws; 2d, the anterior coxal 

 cavities closed behind. 



