14 CURCULIOXID,!;. 



■the missing joint can be observed at the base of the nominal 

 fourth joint. Again in a few genera — Anoplus (Europe), Dia- 

 bathrarms (Africa), Aonychus (Australia) and Atclicus (Australia) 

 — the latter joint is entirely absent, the third being broadly 

 dilated, but not bilobed as usual. For the most part the third 

 joint is dilated and bilobed, and lu such cases it is clothed 

 beneath with a spongy covering of dense short adhesive hairs. 

 In the purely terrestrial forms (the extreme paucity of which 

 is a striking feature of the Curculionid fauna of India) this joint 

 is not or but slightly broader than tlie others, and the tarsus is 

 then clothed beneath with longer non-adhesive hairs or with 

 stiff bristles. Such slender tarsi are also characteristic of the 

 few genera of aquatic weevils {Ba</ous, IJi/di-onomus, Ephimerojyus), 

 as well as of the CossoNix,!. The structure of the claws is of 

 much systematic value. In the normal condition they are 

 capable of independent movement, but are always more or less 

 closely approximated, being then described simply as free ; in a 

 great many groups they are fused together at the base, and 

 sometimes to well beyond the middle, being then called connate ; 

 frequently they are more or less separated at the base and placed 

 at a wide angle, when they are known as divaricate; in a few 

 cases there is only a single claw — Atmetoni/chus (Indian), 

 Holowichus (Madagascar), BarilejHoii (American), Bmrhyhamvs 

 (American), Haploiujx (Australian), JIunomjchus (Holarctic) ; 

 •occasionally the claws are armed with a tooth, and more rarely 

 they are cleft. 



Abdomen. — The number of abdominal segments requires further 

 investigation. Leconte and Horn considered that the normal 

 number of tergites was seven, but that in all the subfamilies 

 except Ehinomacerin.t;, EnYNCHiTiNyE, Attelabix.15, Apionin.i: 

 and Cala^'driNuE the males had the seventh tergite divided into 

 two, while the females had only the normal seven. The validity 

 of this interpretation appeared doubtful when it was discovered 

 that in African species of several genera of Adelognathi {Pohj- 

 ■cleis, Neocimbus, Strophosomus) the females have a distinct eighth 

 tergite, almost as large as that of the male, while in two other 

 genera, Proscephaladeres and Eremnus, and in some Indian 

 Episonms, this tergite was distinctly visible, though for the most 

 part withdrawn beneath the seventh. Further dissections render 

 it highly probable that in every case where there are only seven 

 tergites visible a concealed anal one will be found, the number 

 having been ascertained to be the same (namely, eight) in both 

 sexes of all the species examined so far. In the majority of 

 these species I have noticed a silky patch on each side at the 

 base of the seventh tergite. They are situated just beneath the 

 complicated fold of the wing, and it seems probable that they may 

 serve as a soft j^ad on which the delicate membrane can rest 

 without risk of damage, this view being supported by the fact 

 that they have not been found in those species in which the 

 wings are reduced or absent. The shape and position of these 

 patches may possibly yield good diagnostic characters. 



