72 



GouDiE, Coleoptera of N .-W . Victoria. [vd!''xxix. 



NOTES ON THE COLEOPTERA OF NORTH-WESTERN 



VICTORIA. 



Part IV.* — PSELAPHID/E, PaUSSID.-E, and SCYDM.^NIDyE. 



By J. C. GouDiE. 

 (Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, 12th Aug., 191 2.) 

 In studying the minute forms of life, whether belonging to the ' 

 animal or vegetable kingdoms, with the aid, say, of a Coddington 

 lens, we are at once apprised of the fact that they are just as 

 perfectly formed in their various parts, quite as admirably 

 equipped for the battle of life, as the most gigantic. Although 

 a collection of Pselaphid^, with which we are just now con- 

 cerned, has not the showy quahties of a cabinet drawer of 

 Queensland Cetonidse or BuprestidcC, yet in their structure and 

 habits they are in many cases of exceptional interest to the 

 naturalist. 



As briefly defined by Kirby, the characters by which we may 

 recogni7e the Pselaphidae are as follow : — " Antenna short and 

 thick ; elytra nearly half the length of the abdomen, which is 

 not freely movable ; tarsi generally three-jointed." To which 

 may be added : — Size, small ; colour generally of some shade 

 of red or reddish-brown (castaneous). 



This family is well represented in Australia and Tasmania, 

 both in genera and species. All those collected by the writer, 

 with few exceptions, have been taken in the nests of various 

 kinds of ants, where it is probable they prey on the minute 

 acarids (mites), which often swarm in the nests of their hosts. 



When collecting from ants' nests, it is advisable to secure 

 some of the ants, and mount them with the beetles on the same 

 card. 



To give an idea of the size of these Pselaphida.', I may 

 mention that Somatipion globulifer, Schfs., one of the largest 

 of our species, measures only 4 mm., or less tl an one sixth of 

 an inch. 



PSELAPHID/E. 



1441. Ctenistes vernalis. King. 



On one occasion the writer met with a number of this species 

 clustered under a large stone ; no ants present. Ctenistes and 

 Ctenisophus have peculiar comb-like palpi. 



1442. Tmesiphorus formicinus, Macl. 



A comparatively large species. Taken under logs in nests 

 of Ponera liilca, a narrow brownish ant about a quarter of an 

 inch long. 



* Previous parts of this paper appeared in the Victorian Naturalist, 

 vol. xxvi., p. 39 ; xxvii., p. 153; and xxviii., p. 117. 



