HETEROMEROUS FUNGUS-BEETLES. 



125 



Family LIV. DIAPERID.E. 



This small family is foimded upon the genus 

 ; I Dioprris, of GeottVoy, a toriii derived from a 

 prri^ Greek word meaning to pass through., and 

 suggested probably by the perfoliate charac- 

 ter of the antenme, in whicli tlie axis ai)pears 

 to pass through the dilated joints ; or, the 

 name may have had reference to the habits 

 of the larviT?, in perforating the fungi u])on 

 which they feed. The short and more or less 



BlAil'.Kis HYPXI. Fabr. :— rr, larva; . 



ft, bf.tio: <-. un.i.m.iooi- hca.i of lai- perfoliate cuaractcF ot the antennje, distin- 



va : rf, k»<; (if sanio; .e, aiiteuiia of 



bietie— after Riley. guislu'S tlicsc iiisects irom all the other lleter- 



omera except the sub-family of Ulomides. Their other leading ciiarac- 

 ters have been ^already described in speaking of the tribe which they 

 constitute. The following are the principal genera: 



A. Body srtmewhat square-shaped and rough. First joint of tarsi very short. (Sub-familj J?<'^7o- 

 }iha(jides) BoLITOl'll Alius, 4 hj). 



A A. Body oval and smooth. First joint of tarsi usually longer than the second. (Sub-family i>ia- 

 periden.) 

 B. Antenna' .shorter than the thorax, and perfoliate. La.st joint of maxillary palju eloncjatcd. 

 C. Head unarmed. Ist joint of hind tar.si as lent; as the 2d. Length of body quarter of an inch or 



upwards. Colors black, with re<ldish-yello\v spots Diatkius, 2. 



C C. Head of tlie males usually with two horns or tubercles. Ist joint of hinil tansi a.s long as 2d 

 and :td united. Length less than J inch. Color black or bronzed green, without spots. 



Tliorax .sometimes re<l HorixiCEriiAUA, 2. 



B J5. Antenna- longer than thorax, almost moniliform. Last joint of maxillary palpi triangular. 

 First joint of t;ir8i longer than 2d and 3d. Surface often pruiuose or mealy ; usually without 



spots rLATVDKM A, 14. 



The Bolitophafjns cornutvs, I'anzer, is one of our most remarkable in- 

 sects. It is a tliick-bodied beetle of a dark wood-brown color, and a 

 rough or tuberculated surface, and varying from less than four to nearly' 

 five-tenths of an inch in length. The male is distiiigui.-^hed by two flat- 

 tened horns on the top of the thorax, which curve forwards, and which 

 are clothed on the under side with an orange pubesceuse. It is often 

 found under the bark of old stumps and prostrate logs. The genus I)i- 

 ai)eris proper is represented in this country by the D. Iiydni, Fab., (Fig. 

 58,) which is common throughout the Middle aiul Eastern States. One 

 other species, the D. r-ujipes, Horn, is found in Arizona. Hoploccphola., 

 a term meaning armed head, in allusion to the horns on the heads of the 

 males, contains two species: the hicornis, Oliv., wholly of a metallic- 

 green color, and the riridipcnnis, Fab., similar, but with a red thorax. 

 They are both a tenth of an inch long, or a little more. As the former 

 is described as sometimes having a brownish thorax, it is probable they 

 are only varieties of the same species. Plafi/dema contains fourteen 

 species, as indicated in Dr. Horn's Kevision of X. A. Tenebrionida', of 

 which the four following are the most common : the americanum and 



