PSYCHE. 



A DECADE OF MONSTROUS BEETLES. 



BY SAMUEL H. SCUDDER. 



Monstrosities among insects have al- 

 ways a unique interest ; ear - ly in my 

 entomological career I began the col- 

 lection of facts regarding them, planning 

 a general survey and classification of 

 the entire literature of the subject, which 

 I have not only never fully carried out, 

 but which the multiplicity of other work 

 will prevent my undertaking seriously 

 for a long time to come, if ever. On 

 that account I have thought it well to 

 publish the few original cases which 

 have come into my hands, and of which 

 I have made notes, together with illus- 

 trations of them. None of them are of 

 exceptional interest, but one or two are 

 not a little remarkable. They all be- 

 long to the Coleoptera, and all but one 

 to one of the two families, Carabidae 

 and Scarabaeidae. The drawings were 

 made by Messrs. J. H. Emerton and 

 Edward Burgess. 



CARABIDAE. 



Carabus serratus Say. $ . A right 

 fore leg in which the femur is normal but 

 the tibia unusually thick at base ; only 

 a short distance beyond (about -±- the 

 distance) it divides into two branches, 

 each of which is at tip very nearly, if 

 not quite, as large as the normal tibia. 



The inner one is not so well developed 

 as the outer and may therefore be con- 

 sidered the supernumerary limb. The 

 inner is slightly shorter. The tarsal 

 joints of each are five in number, and in 

 the inner are slightly shorter than in the 

 outer ; this is especially the case with 

 the terminal joint. In the inner leg the 

 terminal joint is not inserted in the 

 middle of the previous but upon the 

 middle of its inner half and at the same 

 time it is slightly curved inwards as if 

 to give room for another joint, which 

 indeed I think once existed, for there is 

 a pit upon the middle of the outer half 

 of the terminal surface of the penulti- 

 mate joint just large enough for the re- 

 ception of such a joint, and this too 

 would account for the unusual shortness 

 of the remaining terminal joint. The 

 terminal joint of the outer leg is pro- 

 vided with a normal pair of claws ; the 

 other has only a slightly bent, very 

 minute, and very short central and un- 

 divided pi'ocess. 



The outer tibia is normal in shape 

 and in armature ; the inner exhibits 

 above a longitudinal groove broad and 

 deep in the middle, becoming abruptly 

 shallow and narrow anteriorly, and ter- 

 minating by a union of the borders at 



