62 Descriptive Catalogue [1897. 



almost inconspicuous ; elytra slightly attenuate at base and without 

 any humeral angle ; eyes smaller than in male. Length 1-30 mm. 



The female is smaller and less robust than the male — an unusual 

 case. Found in mosses. 



Hab. Cape Colony (Cape Town). 



Gen. EAFFEAYIA, Eeitter, 

 Verb. Naturf. Ver. Brunn, xx. p. 198. 



Body subelongate, more or less parallel ; head variable ; antennae 

 short and thick, joints pluridentate, intermediate ones sometimes 

 compressed, club hardly distinct ; maxillary palpi strong, first joint 

 inconspicuous, second elongate, a little incurved, strongly clavate at 

 apex, third subtriangular, minute, fourth fusiform, large, attenuate at 

 tip and provided with a minute, short, and obtuse appendage ; pro- 

 thorax more or less cordate, foveate and sulcate ; elytra with a 

 humeral angle which is most often attenuate, but nevertheless more 

 or less dentate and having a sulcate lateral margin ; abdomen broadly 

 marginate, both sexes with six ventral abdominal segments, the first 

 dorsal one larger than the others or equal ; posterior coxae approxi- 

 mate ; tarsi triarticulate, the first joint small, the second thicker and 

 subobconic, third subcylindrical and more slender than the others, 

 two claws differing much in size. 



This genus was established by Eeitter for Trichonyx antcnnatus, 

 Eaffr., from Abyssinia. It is a very distinct one, but allied to the 

 European genus Trichonyx. Its distinctive feature is the presence 

 of one or two rings of minute tubercles on each antennal joint. 



The sexual characters vary in each species, and the eyes, the under 

 part of the head, the epistoma, the elytra, and the inferior segments 

 of the abdomen are subject to modification. These sexual characters 

 vary even in the same species, and there are cases of dimorphism in 

 the male, the more developed ones having the normal characters of 

 their sex, while others less well developed are similar to the female 

 except for the last ventral segment, which displays the usual sexual 

 marks of the male sex ; in other cases certain females have the 

 characteristics of the male. 



Owing to the antennae being very often compressed, a very careful 

 examination is needed for ascertaining their true shape. 



With the exception of Raffrayia antcnnata, which occurs in 

 Abyssinia, all the other species inhabit South Africa, and are par- 

 ticularly abundant both in number of species and examples in the 

 neighbourhood of Cape Town. They are found under bark and 

 stones, but more especially in sifting the dead leaves of the oak-tree. 



