AULACOSTETHUS. 173 



Genus AULACOSTETHUS. 



Aulacostethus Wat., Trtui.*!. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1869 p. 13 ; Parry, op. 

 cit. 1870, p. 83. 



Type, A. archer i Wat. 



Range. Sikkim. 



Body moderately elongate, compact and convex, rather 

 parallel-sided, the middle and hind legs very short, their tibiae 

 each with a strong lateral t+pine and the extremities dilated and 

 ])ro(luced externally into three sharp finger-like processes, the 

 front tibia with a strong terminal fork ; tarsi .short, th(> 

 pulvillii.s well developed. Head (J) quatb-ate, broad, with the 

 (\yes greatly reduced, divided by a very narrow longitudinal 

 ridge, tlie u])per and lower divisions very small, the upper 

 minute Antenna fairly slender, with the seventh joint 

 strongly transver.se and the last three not very short. Maxilla 

 with the outer lobe long and slender, the inner without horny 

 hook (3*) ; tlie palpus long, the second joint very slender. 

 Mentinn broadly triangular ; ligula long and narrow, forming 

 two slender diverging lobeh' in front, the imier edge closely 

 fringed with long hairs ; palpi with the first and third joints 

 long. Pronotiun completely and narrowly margined, broad, 

 with the lateral margin obtusely angulate behind and the 

 liind angles obsolete. Scutellum broadly semicircular. Pro- 

 sternum channelled between the front coxse, jH'oduced behind, 

 a little comjjressed, blunt. 



(^. Mandibles narrow, far apart at the base. 



$. Unkno\Mi. 



The validity of this genus was questioned by Parry, who 

 compared A. archeri with Dorcus forceps Voll.. in which tiie 

 eyes are almost, though not comjiletely, divided, but there 

 is certahily no very near n^lationship with that insect and the 

 remarkable reduction of the eyes to mere vestiges, not raised 

 eitiier dorsally or ventrally above the general surface of the 

 head, separates this a])parently rare insect from all other known 

 forms. This feature, together with the 2)eculiar form of the 

 legs, seems to indicate that its habit is to bury itself and slum 

 the light. It is to be feared that the discovery of the feniale. 

 necessary for a better knowledge of its affinities, may be long 

 delayed but it is probable that the fossorial character of the 

 short legs of the male will prove to be still more ])ronouneed 

 in the other sex and the generic separation of the insect will 

 prove to be justified. 



92. Aulacostethus archeri. (Plate XXI, figs. 7, 8.) 



Anlacostethii.1 archeri Wtit.,* Tran.s. Ent. Soc. Lond. IS(>!» p If 



pi. 3, fig. I. 

 Pro-iopocoilns archeri Parry, op. at. 1870, p. 83. 



(J. Black, not shining above, moderately shining beneath, 

 the sides of the inetasternum clothed with rather long and close 



