10 INSECTA MADEREXSIA. 



yrita, and rather more rounded behind; deeply channeled. Elytra usually unstriatedj though 

 occasionally with indications of strise just perceptible. Wings sufficiently ample. 



Tlio smallest of the Madeiran Dromii, differing from the last species in its 

 sUghtly narrower and shorter head and prothorax, the latter of which is more suh- 

 cordate than is the case in that insect, and in its usually total fi-eedom from ehiiral 

 strise. It is common throughout the islands of the group, or at any rate in 

 Madeira, Porto Santo, and on the Dezerta Grande, in all of which I have captui*ed 

 it ahimdantly, although generally at a rather low elevation. It is universal 

 throughout Europe ; and occurs also in Algeria and in the Canary Islands. 



(Suhf. 2. SCAEITIDES.) 

 Genus 3. SCARITES. 



Fabricius, Syst. Eat. 2i9 (1775). 



Corpus magnum, oblongum, subdepressum : mesothorace cylindrico elongato angusto : prothorace 

 antice lato truncate, postice contracto : alis obsoletis. Antenna filiformes, apicem versus pilosse 

 et vix incrassatre, in maribus longiuscula; ; articido primo valde elongato subflexuoso-conico, 

 secundo breviore (tcrtii quartique conjunctim fere longitudinc), quiuto ad ultinium pilosissimis 

 subrcqualibus. Labrum breve transversum trilobum, lobis externis pihs incui'vis ciUatis, omnibus 

 setis paucis mediis longissimis intra marginem instructis. Mandibula maximee, validjc, porrectae, 

 iutus fortiter dentatee. Maxilla bilobre, elongatse, flexuosse: loho externa palpiformi biai-ticulato : 

 interno apicc incurvo, intus valde et dense ciliato. Palpi filiformes, articulo ultimo subcylindi'ico. 

 Mentum jugiilo connatum, transversum, trilobum, lobo medio carinato et ad apicem acuto inflexo. 

 Ligula brevis, lata, pilosissima, emarginata. Pedes robusti : tibiis anticis valde palmatis, inter- 

 ^ mediis ante apicem externum spinis (plerumque duabus) armatis, posticis simphcibus : ta)-sis in 

 utroque sexu unguiculisquc simplicibus. 



Some of the largest Carabideous insects are included in the genus Scarifes ; the 

 species of which may be at once known by their narrow, cylin(U-ical mesothorax, 

 which, by disconnecting the prothorax from the base of the elytra, causes the 

 former, which is itself usually roimded off behind, to appear pedunculated. Their 

 strongly palmated fore-tibisc enable them to bui'row into the ground willi consider- 

 able dexterity, and their greatly developed mandibles give them no slight ad- 

 vantage over the smaller insects on which they feed. They are chiefly nocturnal 

 in then- habits, residing Ijcneath stones, logs of wood, or imder dead leaves, from 

 which in the daytime they seldom wander ; and on being exposed to the light 

 they quickly recede into their bmi'ows, out of which, from their great depth, it is 

 not always easy to extricate them. In the mountains of Madeira, where detached 

 blocks of basalt lie confusedly together, and become gradually overgro-mi with 

 vegetation, the caverns thus formed are well adapted for the residence of tlie 

 Scantidce ; and we accordmgly find the single species which (although not peculiar 



