INSECTA MADERENSIA. 211 



Genus 75. PAROMALUS. 



Erictson, in Klug JaJirh. i. 167 (1834). 



Corpus parvunij plerumque quadrato-rotuudatum, durum, glaberrimum : capite retracto : prothorace 

 postice lato elytris arete applieato, latera versus haud striate ; prosterno antice in lobum corneum 

 (capitis basin inferiorem obtegentem) producto : elytris ad apicem recto-truncatis, striis subrectis 

 (fere integris) ssepius impressis : alis amplis. Antenna breves (capite vix longiores) capitatse 

 geniculatre, articulo primo elongatissimo robusto flexuoso clavato, in fovea sub margine capitis 

 inter otium reposito, funiculo subfiliformi (articulis primo et ultimo majoribus, illo sat elongate, 

 hoc latiore transverso), reliquis capitulum magnum solidum ovale triarticulatum eflBcicntibus. 

 Labrum transversum, antice integrum vix ciliatum. Mandiliula magufe validfe incurvfe exsertse, 

 infra apicem dente valido instructae, ad basin lataj pubescentes. MaxilLe bilobte membranaccEe : 

 lobo externa elongato, intus et apice valde pubescenti : interno brevi angusto, apice incurvo 

 uncinato, intus valde ciliato. Palpi filiformes ; maxillures articulo primo parvo, secundo et tertio 

 majoribus crassioribus sequalibus, ultimo elongato fusiformi basi truncato : labiales e scapis ligulse 

 connatis surgentes, articulo primo parvo, secundo majore cra.ssiore subclavato, ultimo elongato 

 fusiformi basi subtruncato. Mentum parvum, apice fisso-emarginatum. Ligula bipartita valde 

 pilosa, lobis longis divergentibus membranaceis. Pedes validi retractiles : tibiis leviter inciu'vis, 

 compressis, modo angustioribus modo latiusculis, extus (prsesertim anticis) plus miuusve eroso- 

 subdentatis {posticis fere integris) : tarsis filiformibus longiusculis (anticis subreceptis), articulo 

 primo elongato. 



Apart from the minute bulb of the few insects which unite in composing it, 

 Faromalus may be known from Sister proper by the proportions of its antennae 

 (of which the scape is comi^aratively more robust and clavatecl, and the funiculus 

 much more filiform, than is the case in that genus), by the smaller, narrower, and 

 more uncinated inner lobe of its maxilla?, by the second and tliird articulations of 

 its maxillary palpi bemg far shorter than the ultimate one, and by the somewhat 

 different construction of its mentum, tibiae and tarsi, — the last of which have then* 

 basal joint distinctly longer than (the fifth excepted) any of the rest*. It is iu 

 their habits however, more than ia their structure, that the Paromali recede from 

 ■the H'tstri and Saprbii, since they are scarcely ever found, so far as I am aware, 

 either in carrion or dung (the especial haunts of the latter), but in fungi, beneath 

 the bark and moss of trees, or adhering to the under sides of stones even in the 

 open country, — a position which may perhaps be partially accounted for by the 

 fact, which has more than once been recorded, that some of the species occasionally 



* Paromalus approaclies very closely to the genus DendropJiihis, from wliich perhaps it is scarcely 

 sufficiently distinct ; nevertheless, since it has been separated therefrom by Erichson, I have not ventured 

 to re-amalgamate them. After a carefid dissection however of the two Madeiran Paromali., and also of a 

 specimen of Deiulrophilus punctatiis (from Berlin), it appears to me that the only points in which the 

 former recede from the latter are, fii'st, in the somewhat longer and less robust scape, and the more oval 

 club, of their auteimse ; and, secondly, in the stitietm-e of their tibiae, which are a Httle incurved, and not 

 quite so broad, — nor are they obliquely truncated towards their external base (a peculiarity which, — 

 though but faintly expressed iu the anterior pair, — is exceedingly evident in the foiu' hinder tibite of the 

 Dendrophili; and which gives them the appearance of being slightly angulated about the middle of their 

 outer edge) . 



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