278 MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 



Bostrichus, as described by Latreille {Hist. Nat., &c. vol. xi. p. 222.), 

 which is short, soft, 12-jointed, and generally curved; with six scaly 

 legs and a scaly head ; armed with strong jaws, enabling the larvse to 

 gnaw the wood upon which they subsist, and in which they undergo 

 their transformations. More recently, Dr. Erichson has observed that 

 this family appears to be intermediate between Clerus and Anobium, 

 mentioning the discovery by Professor Ratzeburg of the larva of 

 Apate (Bostrichus), " welche in Gegensatz der fusslosen Bostrichen 

 (Scolytus) Larven viel Uebereinstimmung mit denen der Anobien 

 zeigen." ( Weigm. Arch. 2. p. 46.) Dr. Ratzeburg has himself since 

 published a figure of this larva in his Forst-Insecten. Coleopt. tab. 

 xiv., from which xnjjig. 31. 10. is a copy. 



It is not possible to determine with precision the insect to which 

 the name Bostrichus was given by the ancients. Mr. MacLeay con- 

 siders that it was, probably, some male glowworm. The genus Bostri- 

 chus was established by Geoffroy for the reception of the Dermestes 

 capucinus Linn. Fabricius, long subsequently, gave the generic name 

 of Apate to the same insect, which ought consequently to be expunged. 

 With equal impropriety, Fabricius gave the name of Bostrichus to the 

 Scolytus destructor. The Fabrician nomenclature is still retained in 

 Germany as regards the former of these genera. 



Some of the exotic species are upwards of an inch in length, and, 

 consequently, the damage which they produce to timber must be very 

 considerable. The British species are few in number, of small size, 

 and considerable rarity ; indeed, it is not improbable that some of them 

 are not really indigenous, but have been imported in timber, &c., from 

 abroad, as in the instance of Dinoderus ocellaris, described by Mr. 

 Stephens, from my collection, which I found floating in a cup of 

 coffee. Considerable confusion has taken place in the nomenclature 

 of some of the species. 



The European genus Psoa, although closely allied to Bostrichus, 

 recedes from the general appearance of the family, in the metallic co- 

 louring of the thorax, Szc, assuming, as Mr. Curtis suggests, the habit 

 of the Cleridre ; indeed, this author considers that the connexion be- 

 tween these two families is established by means of it. 



The genus Phloiotribus also appears to be referrible to this family; 

 its antennae being terminated by a club, composed of three very long 

 lamellae, resembling those of the Lamellicorn beetles ; the third tarsal 

 joint is, however, bilobed. The type of the genus, P. olese, has been 



