110 H. C. FALL. 



PTIIVUS Linn. 



Men turn triangular; mandibles robust, simple at tip, but with a 

 small internal tooth near the middle., First joint of maxillary palpi 

 very slender and strongly arcuate, intermediate joints short, subtrian- 

 gular, terminal joint longer, oval, acuminate; labial palpi similarly 

 formed. Labrum transverse, rounded and ciliate in front; epistoma 

 triangular, a little emarginate. Eyes rounded, moderate or large, 

 frequently distinctly larger and more prominent in the male. An- 

 tennae approximate at base, filiform, first joint robust, second small- 

 est, joints 3-11 elongate, subequal or slightly increasing in length, 

 the individual joints either cylindrical or gradually wider from base 

 to apex. Prothorax strongly constricted posteriorly, disk usually 

 granulate and frequently tuberculate. Scutellum distinct, triangu- 

 lar. Elytra oblong elongate in both sexes of subgenus Gynopterus ; 

 elongate subparallel in the male and oval in the female of subgenus 

 Ptinus ; punctate striate, variously clothed with recumbent hairs or 

 scales and erect bristles. Front coxae separated by a narrow pro- 

 sternal lamina; middle coxae more distinctly separated; hind coxa? 

 not very distant, the trochanters- falling far short of reaching the 

 elytral margin. Metasternum variable in length, usually much 

 longer than the second ventral segment, but relatively short in those 

 females with oval elytra. Ventral segments 1-3 subequal in length 

 at the middle, the first much shorter behind the coxae; fourth nearly 

 as long as the fifth in Gynopterus, but much shorter in Ptijius. 

 Legs long and slender; thighs quite strongly clavate ; tarsi some- 

 what compressed laterally, first joint equal to the two or three fol- 

 lowing; fourth narrow, not bilobed in any of our species; fifth slen- 

 der subequal to the two preceding ; claws slender, simple, strongly 

 divergent. 



The number of species — twenty-seven — treated in the following 

 pages is a very substantial increase over the six that have stood on 

 our lists for many years ; yet there are doubtless others awaiting dis- 

 covery, though it is not likely that our fauna will prove to be as 

 rich as the European, in which over fifty species are recorded. As 

 indicated above, only two of the somewhat numerous Palearctic sub- 

 genera are represented with us. Of these Ptinus embraces those 

 species in which there is a marked sexual difference in the form of 

 the body, and the fourth ventral segment is relatively short ; the rest 

 of our species may, I think, be referred to Gynopterus, in which the 



