180 MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 



short hairs scattered upon them ; the two terminal segments are 

 longer and more firm, the thirteenth segment being somewhat truncate, 

 and furnished beneath with two large sub-globose fleshy tubercles 

 serving as anal prolegs : this segment of the body is often curved 

 downwards {fig. 17. 18.). The feet are six in number, and short; the 

 jaws strong and bifid at the tips; the antennee 3-jointed, short, and 

 capable of being drawn in together and concealed, as well as the 

 labrum, beneath the clypeus. They shed their skins ; but I did not 

 succeed in rearing them to the perfect state. 



This family is nearly allied to the Dermestidae*, the genus An- 

 threnus having been alternately placed in one or the other of these 

 two groups; and, indeed, Latreille in his ' Genera' included Megatoma 

 and its allies in the Byrrhidas. Dr. Leach has described a minute, 

 but very interesting, insect, one twenty- fourth of an inch long, which 

 he referred to this family under the name of Murmidius ferrugineus 

 (Linn. Trans, t. xiii. p. ^L), which he discovered alive in considerable 

 numbers in a box of seeds and fruits received from China, attaching 

 itself more particularly to sucli as contained saccharine matter. The 

 antennte are lO-jointed, the basal joint large, and the last forming an 

 abrupt subglobose club ; and the tibia; are abruptly acuminate at the 

 tip. This insect is, I apprehend, identical with the Ceutocerus 

 advena, Schilppell (^Ge7-m. Nov. Ins. Sp. vol. i. pt. 1. f. 2.), of which 

 Latreille observes, that it appears allied to the Histeridaj in the 

 antenna3 and legs; but the mandibles are not pointed, and the elytra 

 entirely cover the abdomen. The genus Oomorphus Curtis, first 

 indicated by Latreille (JRegne An. vol. iv. p. 313.), is also interesting 

 as regards its affinities; the third tarsal joint being bilobed, and the 

 fourth very minute ; the antennae are terminated by a 5-jointed club, 

 of which the second joint is however smaller than the others, thus 

 approaching the Anisotomida?. With Lamprosoma or Eumolpus the 

 relationship, suggested by Mr. Curtis, appears of the most distant 

 kind. Throscus, also, has been often referred to this family with which 

 it agrees, in having clavate antennae, and the ^jrosternum advanced in 

 front. It appears, however, to be more nearly allied to the Elaterida?, 

 probably forming a link between these two families. •]- 



* Mr. Kirby unites the Byrrhid» with the Necrophaga in the Fauna Boreali- 

 Ameiicana. 



t See observations on this genus in tlie Entom. Hefte, 2d part. 



