to 
MONOGRAPH OF THE 
The following are the chief characters of the family. 
PAUSSID, Westw. (Paussili, Latr.; Paussides, Leach.) 
Corpus oblongo-quadratum subdepressum, rigidum. Caput subtriangulari-globosum porrectum, 
collo instructum, antenne permagne crasse, difformes, articulis 2-10, articulo basali com- 
presso, parte reliqua antennarum plus minusve depressa: labrum corneum porrectum ; man- 
bule faleate corner acute ; maxille lobo satis magno, tenui, apice dentato, palpi maxillares 
magni. Labium corneum vel coriaceum: palpi labiales maximi. Thorax forme diverse. 
Elytra postice quadrata angulo externo apicali tuberculo seepius instructo.  Pedes 
subsequales breves compressi. Tarsi breves 5-articulati in plurimis; articulis haud lobatis ; 
basali sepius minuto. Abdomen thorace multo majus et elytris longius, e segmentis 
4 constans, duobus intermediis multo brevioribus. 
A short notice of the history of this family will show the great 
increase which has been made in our knowledge of its contents. 
The genus Paussus was proposed by Linneus in 1775, in a short 
paper, in the Dissertationes Academice, in which he also described 
the genus Diopsis, and with which he terminated his entomological 
career. Of the former genus he knew only a single species. 
Thunberg, in 1781, described two more species of Paussus in 
the Swedish Transactions, in which work the genus Cerapterus 
was described by Swederus in 1778. In 1798, Afzelius published 
an excellent paper on the Paussi in the Linnzean Transactions, in 
which he described the then known species in detail, adding a new 
one. Donovan added several new species of Paussus, in the ‘Insects 
of India,” and a new Cerapterus in his “ Insects of New Holland,” 
in which, for the first time, the relation existing between these two 
genera was noticed. One or two other species were added by 
Schénher, Dalman, and Fabricius; those introduced by the last- 
named author not belonging to the family. In the various 
memoirs which I have published, the number of species has been 
increased four-fold, excluding several now proved not to belong to 
the family ; namely, those constituting the genus Trochoideus W.*, 
which, as shown by my dissections of one of the species published 
in the Transactions of the Entomological Society, is referable to 
the Endomychidz, and those which strictly belong to the sub-family 
of which Malachius is the type +. 
Of the habits of this family but little is known. The specimens 
of Paussus spherocerus captured by Afzelius at Sierra Leone, in 
the months of January and February, were taken in houses by 
* 1. Paussus cruciatus, Dalm., found in Gum copal. ; 2. Troch. Dalmanni, Westw., 
from Madagascar; 3. Troch. Desjardinii, Guér, from the island of Mauritius; and 
4. Troch. Americanus, Bugq., from Colombia. A 5th unnamed species is in the collection 
of the Rev. F. W. Hope, from New Granada, probably identical with T, Americanus. 
+ 1. Paussus flavicornis, Fabricius (Megadeuterus flav., Westw.; Laius cyaneus, 
Guér.). 2. Paussus ruficollis, Fabr. (Collops 4-maculatus, Fabr., Erichson). 3. Mala- 
chus vittatus, Say (Collops vittatus, Erichson, Megadeuterus Haworthii, Westw.) 
