6 14 FAUNA HAWAIIENSIS 



Lasioderma. 

 Lasioderma serricorne F. 

 Hab, Hawaiian islands, generally distributed and injurious. 



Catorama. 

 (i) Catorama mexicana Chev. 

 Hab. Oahu, Maui, Hawaii and no doubt the other islands. 



(2) Catorama pusilla Sharp. 



Catorama pusil la Sharp, Tr. Dublin Soc. 1885, p. 160. 



Hab. Maui (Blackburn). I do not remember having noticed this species, but 

 I paid very little attention to the introduced Anobiids of which there are other species 

 now present in Honolulu. 



MiROSTERNUs Sharp. 



Mirostermis Sharp, Tr. Ent. Soc. London, 1881, p. 526. 



The species of this genus, which, though described originally from Hawaiian 

 specimens, is also found in the central parts of America, are numerous in the islands 

 and extremely difficult to distinguish from one another. They are also very difficult to 

 expand for purposes of examination, and are, unless the greatest care is taken, very 

 easily damaged in the process. No doubt, with specimens recently captured this diffi- 

 culty would be comparatively slight, but in the case of those kept in carbolized boxes 

 for years before manipulation it is extreme. 



The four most important characters are (i) the size of the eyes, (2) the form of 

 the antennae, (3) the structure of the metasternum, (4) the general sculpture and 

 clothing. Each of these characters is unfortunately subject to vary both individually 

 and according to sex. Thus the eyes may be nearly the same size in both male and 

 female of a species or entirely different ; a carina may be well-developed on the meta- 

 sternum' of the Z, and feeble or absent in the %, and the antennae may be nearly alike 

 in both sexes or very different, according to the species ; so too, the puncturation varies 

 sexually and individually. 



I herewith have made some attempt to group the species on the first and last of 

 the above mentioned characters, but such grouping is not altogether natural. It is so 

 to a considerable extent, in that many evidently allied species fall naturally together 

 and it may serve, though very imperfectly, for the more ready discrimination of the 

 species. It is based essentially on male characters and often will not be correct for 

 examples of the female sex. 



