240 MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 



the memoir of the latter (contained in the Ann. de la Soc. Entomol. de 

 France, vol. ii., and in which the genera of Stephens are not noticed) 

 was the last work which he lived to complete, thus rendering this 

 memoir doubly painfully interesting, as combining the closing labours 

 of these two distinguished men. 



In my generic list, I have endeavoured to do justice to each 

 of the three labourers above-mentioned, whose distributions are 

 founded upon the laminiferous, or simple structure of the tarsi * ; the 

 serrated or simple form of the ungues ; the form of the basal portion 

 of the hind legs, and of the scutellum, Sec. 



Amongst the British genera of this family enumerated in the 

 Synopsis, that of Ctenicerus is one of the most elegant, contain- 

 ing species of a metallic colour, with beautifully pectinated antennae, 

 whence Dr. Leach first gave them the name of Cleniocerus ; Latreille, 

 however, first characterised it under the name of Ctenicerus, which 

 name I have retained in preference also to his more recent name 

 of Corymbites, given to the same group. 



The largest British species is the Ludius t ferrugineus. It is of a 

 dirty red colour, with the scutellum and base of the thorax black, and 

 is scarcely an inch in length. Most of the species to which the 

 generic name of Elater has been restricted by Latreille and Stephens, 

 are distinguished by the scarlet colour of their elytra. Dejean has, 

 however, entirely dropped the generic name of Elater, employing for 

 these insects the name of Ampedus of Megerle, whilst Mr. Kirby, on 

 the other hand, regards the phosphorescent species as pre-eminently 

 the types of the family {Faun. Bor. Am. 149.). The typical species 

 of Campylis, distinguished by its large eyes, is extremely variable in 

 its colours, the varieties having been considered as distinct species 

 by various authors. 



* There is very considerable variety in the nature and extent of the clotliing of 

 the underside of the tarsi. Many species have these parts simple, others have a 

 single sucker on the fourth joint. In E. obscurus L. ? the 2d and 3d joints have 

 a cushion edged with hairs. A West Indian species, mentioned by Mr. Kirby, 

 has three transverse reniform suckers on the 2d 3d and 4th joints. In E. niger 

 the 1st 2d and 3d joints have a brush at the tips. In E. ligneus, &c. there are 

 three large suckers on these joints ; in E. flabellicornis there is a naked cushion 

 on the four first joints, and in E. noctilucus the same joints are furnished with a 

 brush (Kirby, Faun. Amer. Bor. p. 144.). 



f Both in the Regne Animal and Annates Soc. Ent. France, Latreille gave the 

 E. ferrugineus as the type of his genus Ludius. Mr. Curtis has, however, given it 

 as the type of Eschscholtz's MS. genus Steatoderus, and misapplied the name 

 Ludius for El. pectinicornis. 



