262 



MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 



mela and Dermestes, having for its type that of Clerus*, of Geoffroy, 

 a name proposed long before Olivier employed that of Tillus for the 

 same insects, although the latter name has been adopted by Leach 

 and others for the family name of the group ; indeed, Dejean, by over- 

 looking the fact that the Attel. apiarius Linn., was GeofFroy's typical 

 species, and by employing for an allied group the name of Notoxus, 

 has introduced great confusion in the names of the groups, which may 

 be corrected by adopting the nomenclature given in my synopsis. 



The family is distinguished from the preceding by the greater 

 firmness of the body, which is long and often cylindric, with the head 



Fig. 29. 





and thorax narrower than the elytra {fig. 29. i. Clerus alvearius), 

 and by the short antenna?, which are sometimes filiform and serrated, 

 and sometimes gradually, or abruptly clavate {fig. 29. c). The palpi, 

 or at least one pair of them, are terminated by a large hatchet-shaped 

 joint (fig. 29. 4. maxilla, 29. 5. labium of Clerus, 29. 19. maxilla of 

 Opilus) ; the mandibles have several teeth {fig. 29. 3.) ; the upper lip 

 is distinct {fig. 29. 2.) ; the tarsi are short, broad, and often spongy 

 beneath, with at least one of the joints, often the penultimate, bilobed ; 

 the basal joint is occasionally scarcely distinct {fig. 29. 7. tarsus of 

 Clerus, 29.8. ditto, seen laterally, 29. 18. tarsus of Necrobia) ; the 

 head is retractile in the thorax as far as the eyes, which are generally 

 lunate. 



* This name was indeed very aptly selected for these insects, since, although 

 Geoffroy does not appear to have been aware of it, it was employed by ancients (as 

 recorded by Aristotle) for a worm, which was found in bees-hives, probably how- 

 ever, as suggested both by MacLeay {Horm Ent. p. 486.), and Latreille {Cours 

 d'E7it. p. 63), it might have been that of Galleria Cereana, indeed Latreille considers 

 that the larva of the Clerus was the Pyraiistes of the Greek naturalist, which pro- 

 duced the Prasocuris. 



