280 MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS, 



Scydmaenus scutellaris). The head is rather narrowed behind ; the an- 

 tennae are as long as the head and thorax, and thickened at the tips ; 

 the mandibles are bidentate (^fig. 31. 22.), and the maxillary palpi 

 are very long, having the third joint very large and oval, and the 

 terminal joint minute and acute * (^fig. 31. 23.). The thorax is sub- 

 globose, broader than the head, but narrower than the elytrya^ which 

 are large and oval, and entirely cover the abdomen. The legs are 

 long and slender, with the thighs incrassated. The tarsi are entire 

 and 5-jointed (^fig. 31. 24.). Mr. Denny states that the antennae 

 and legs of the males are much thicker than those of the females. 



The transformations of these insects are unknown. They are found 

 upon the ground, under stones, amongst moss collected in damp 

 situations in woods, at the root of trees, &c. They may also be oc- 

 casionally captured on the wing, flying in the sunshine. M. Duros 

 discovered the Scyd. clavatus Ggll. in an ant's nest near Paris, a 

 circumstance, which, with other considerations, tends to confirm the 

 opinion of Latreille, that these insects are allied to the Pselaphidae. 

 Mr. Doubleday also (£'«^. il/fi^. vol. i. p. 439.) records the capture 

 of several species of Scydmaenus, in company with Pselaphidae, under 

 planks placed upon hotbeds^ where they prey upon minute Thysa- 

 nurae, carrying Podurce and Acari about in their jaws whilst devouring 

 them. 



The situation of this family is very doubtful, Latreille {^Regne 

 Animal, 2d edit.) considered them allied to the Pselaphidae. \ Pie, 

 however, placed them between the Lymexylonidte and Histeridae, 

 at the head of his Clavicornes. In the Genera Crust., &c. the same 

 author placed them between the Ptinidae and Staphylinidse ; and, in 

 the first edition of the Regne Animal, they were introduced between 

 the Lymexylonidae and Cleridae. Mr. Stephens makes them the 

 connecting link between the Pselaphidae and the Heteromerous No- 

 toxidae ; observing, however, that " there is considerable affinity 

 between the Scydmseni and the Engidae ; and I suspect the genus 

 Eutheia forms the bond of union between them ;" with which I am 

 inclined to agi'ee. 



* This last joint was, indeed, overlooked by Kunze, who established a section with 

 the character " palpis 3-articulatis." M. Laporte has also fallen into the same error 

 (notwithstanding its correction by Mr. Denny), having formed the insects, composing 

 Kunze's section above-mentioned, into the genus Eumicrus in the Ann. de la Soc. 

 Ent. de France, vol.i. distinguished by a similar character. 



f Dr. Erichson has united theiu with the Pselaphi in the same family. 



