—189— 



Hypocephalus Armatus, De.m:^' 

 ByChas. \V. Leng, B.S. 



My attention was drawn to this Brazilian beetle by an article of M. 

 Lameere in the Annals of the Belg. Enl. Soc, which presents so many 

 curious features that I have thought some account of it, and more partic- 

 ularly of the recent discoveries by Messrs. Sharp and Lameere would 

 not be uninteresting. 



In the first place, it has caused the students of classification, as 

 much anxious thought as any insect in existence, and has occupied a 

 place in almost every group known. It was described in 1832 by Des- 

 marest, and placed by him among the Silphidae, where it remained until 

 Westwood transferred it to the CucujiJae. From that family it travelled 

 into the Longicortis under the guidance of several emment entomologists, 

 where it remains at present in the catalogue of Gemminger & Harold 

 and in the estimation of our European colleagues. Curtis published 

 however in 1854 a long dissertation attempting to prove its Lamellicorn 

 affinities, and Gisd, Spinola, and Leconte have each made it the sole re- 

 presentative of a separate family, as to the name and affinities of which, 

 however, no two agree. Dr. Leconte's view, based upon an examination 

 of a specimen contained in the Brazilian exhibit, at our Centennial Ex- 

 posiuon, is the most interesting. He considers it a survival of an ancient 

 family the other members of which are extinct. He shows by a careful 

 examination of those parts, which experience has shown are least liable 

 to variation, that it cannot be included in any family as at present con- 

 stituted, while its various parts show such relationships, with many of 

 them, as to indicate the possibility of their being descended from it. M. 

 Lameere devotes a considerable space to controverting this view, and by 

 supposing a modification of these parts in recent times, makes it a mem- 

 ber of the Longicorn group. 



The principal features to which I would draw attention are as fol- 

 lows: The five-jointed tarsi, the very short antennae, the fossorial legs, 

 and especially the enormously developed hind femora; (these will be 

 considered with the habits ot the insect); the manner in which the head 

 joins the thorax, leaving a large space beneath, filled with a soft mem- 

 brane. (This character is found in very few families and is of the 

 greatest interest.) The peculiar form of the mandibles is highly interesting, 

 and they are capable of motion in a vertical plane, as well as outwards. 

 This character is met with elsewhere only in the Rhynchophora. Of course 

 the enormous thorax and short elytra attract attention at once. The 

 thoracic interior is filled with powerful muscles operating the head and 



* Read before the Brooklyn EatomoloLjical Society, Sept. i, 1885. 



ENTOMOLOGICA AMERICANA 29 



