8 MISCELLANEOUS FOREST INSECTS. 



TAXONOMY. 

 CHARACTERS USED BY DIFFERENT AUTHORS. 



Beginning with the second division of the Coleoptera or sul)order 

 RhYncho})hora of most of the authors, the principal characters com- 

 piled from Lacordaire (1863), Le Con te and Horn (1876), Ganglbauer 

 (1903), Kolbe (1903), and Bedel (1886-1888), which led up to the 

 family C\irculionida^ may be summarized as follows: 



SUBORDINAL AND FAMILY CHARACTERS. 



Head prolonged into a beak; maxillary ])al])i rigid, 4-jointed, 

 without palparium, (see "Revisional notes," page 9); labial palpi 

 3-jointed; labrum absent; gular sutures wanting; prosternum with 

 epimera extending across the base (see "Revisional notes," page 9); 

 testicles globular; abdomen always with 5 (visible) ventral segments 

 (see ''Revisional notes," page 9); tibiae without movable spines; 

 pygidium divided (see "Revisional notes," page 9); elytra with 

 strong fold toward inner edge; tarsi dilated, brushlike beneath, 

 third joint bilobed, fourth obscure; mandibles without accessory 

 pieces; antennte geniculate, clubbed; beak more or less curved. 



Continuing through the family Curculionida^, the principal char- 

 acters, adopted by one or more of the authors mentioned, which lead 

 up to the subfamilies, tribes, or groups to which the genus Pissodes 

 was referred, are as follows: 



TRIBAL AND SUBFAMILY CHARACTERS. 



Lacordaire (1863, pp. 442-464) : Mentum leaving maxilla exi)osed; 

 submentum forming a peduncle; anterior coxse usually contiguous; 

 pygidium covered by the elytra; metasternum more or less elongate; 

 metepisternum at least moderately broad; antennal funiculus 

 7-jointed; beak variable, with antennal grooves; mesepimerum not 

 ascending toward base of elytra; prothorax with anterior ventral 

 margin usually emarginate. Tribe Hylobiides. 



Tarsal claws free; elytra with elevations at base; mesepimerum 

 usually large; body oblong, oval. Group Hylobiides. 



Le Conte and Horn (1876, pp. 122, 137): Tibiae with tooth of outer 

 apical angle small; eyes not contiguous beneath; mandibles with 

 3 teeth; side pieces of metathorax distinct; lateral angles of first 

 ventral segment not visible; mentum transverse; labial palpi large. 

 Tribe Hylobiini. 



Stierlin (1883, p. 403): Tibiae compressed; inner edge bisinuate 

 with apical hook. Subfamily Hylobiini. 



Bedel (1888, p. 65): Tibiae without distinct groove on the inner 

 edge, but with an incurved apical tooth; ventral segments 2 and 4 



