THE FAMILY LYCTID^. , 113 



of families, followed the Bostrichidae with the Lyctidae, of which he 

 gives the following synopsis : 



Caput pone oculoa rotundos valde prominulos in collum globosum constrictum ; 

 sulcis antennariis nullis; clypeo sutura frontali discreta; mento magno la to. Tro- 

 chanteres apice fere recta truncato. Antennae sub tuberculo frontali insertse, clava 

 2-3 articulata, compressa, prothoracis basin baud attingentes. Mesopleura coxas 

 intermedias baud attingentia. Coxae anticae subglobosse, parum exsertae, contiguae, 

 posticae marginem elytrorum attingentes, transversae, parum distantes. Episterna 

 metathoracis linearia, libera. Tibiae calcari antico uncinate. Tarsi 5-articulati, 

 compressi, articulo l:o obsoleto, 5:o reliquis simul sumtis longiore. 



He divided the family into two tribes, Dinoderina and Lyctina, 

 the latter of which he diagnosed thus: 



Antennae ll-articulatae, clava biarticulata. Labrum transversum, apice emargi- 

 nato, libero. Coxae anteriores rotundae parum, posticae, latins distantes. Tibiae 

 externe baud denticulatae. Acetabula antica occlusa. 



Pascoe (1863) described the genus Minthea and remarked that in 

 Erichson's arrangement this genus, owing to the position of the 

 coxse and the large basal abdominal segment, would be placed with 

 Bothrideres and Sosylus in the Colydiidse. Redtenbacher (1874) 

 placed Lyctus in tlie Cryptophagides. In 1877 Kiesenwetter, in his 

 revision of the Anobiadse, divides the family into the Bostrichini, 

 Anobiini, and Ptinini, and again divides the Bostrichini into five 

 groups, Psoini, Sphindini, Lyctini, Bostrichini veri, and Hendeca- 

 tomini. Lyctus, in which he included Xylotrogus Stephens, was the 

 only representative of the Lyctini. He further remarked that while 

 this group is related to the Bostrichini it might well be considered 

 as a connection between the Anobiadae and the Colydii, but that it 

 was widely separated from Cis by its mouthparts and the antennal 

 and tarsal structure, and tliat eventually a separate family might 

 well be erected for it. He probably had not seen Thomson's work. 

 The following year (1878) Reitter published an article, "Beitrag zur 

 Kenntniss der Lyctidse." He assigned no characters to the family, 

 but referred to it Lyctus Fabricius, Trogoxylon Le Conte, Lyctoxylon 

 Reitter, new genus, and LyctopJiolis Reitter, new genus (Minthea 

 Pascoe), and described several new species. Le Conte and Horn 

 (1883) divided the Ptinidae into four subfamilies, Ptininae, Anobiinae, 

 Bostrichinae, and Lyctinae. To the Lyctinae are assigned Lyctus 

 Fabricius and Trogoxylon Le Conte. In 1885 Reitter again gave a 

 synopsis of the European species of Lyctus and Trogoxylon and 

 assigns them as before to the family Lyctidae. Case}^ (1890) de- 

 scribed several new species of Lyctus under the Ptinidae, but in the 

 appendix of the same paper referred the genus to his more broadly 

 conceived Cucujida?, and gave a discussion on its apparent relation- 

 ship to other families and genera. Lesne (1896-1898), in his revi- 

 sion of the Bostrichidae, divided that family into four tribes — 



