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III. 0)1 a new f/enns of Histeridae. By Geokge 

 Lewis, F.L.S. 



[Read February 4th, 1885.] 



Plate VIII. 



I FOUND a genus of Coleoptera in Japan whose members 

 deviate so far from the Histeriche in their general struc- 

 ture that, after a careful examination of their characters, 

 I excluded it from a paper on this family in the ' Annals 

 and Magazine of Natural History,' February, 1884, and 

 merely alluded to it on page 137 as probably belonging 

 to the Syntcliidce. A more perfect scrutiny of the insects 

 convinces me, however, that they are true Histerids, 

 although their location in the family is not easy to 

 determine. There is much that is abnormal in their 

 structure. If the elytral stria3 and general surface 

 sculpture is considered important, they may be placed 

 near the cylindrical species of Plati/soma ; but there is 

 no lip or chin to the prosternum, and, if this is thought 

 to be an essential character, the genus must be put near 

 TryponcBus. I am inclined myself to set them in the 

 catalogue after Platysoma, because they are allied to the 

 latter genus in their habit of life and mode of seeking 

 their prey, rather than to Teretrius or Trypoiueus. 



The genus rests even now on four well-marked species, 

 and two of these have a large range over Japan and 

 occur in localities whose extreme limits lie 700 miles 

 apart ; we may rest therefore on the assurance that a 

 genus so widely distributed is not confined to Japan 

 alone, for although it is true the beetles from having 

 a definite habitat are inclined to be local, they also 

 belong to a class likely to be conveyed long distances 

 in floating timber. In August, 1880, I saw large oak- 

 trees on the beach at Horobetsu, — strewed there by a 

 gale in the Pacific, — and trunks of such size doubtless 

 landed large numbers of insects on the sea-border of 

 Southern Yezo. But there are more weighty reasons 

 for the supposition of a wide distribution. Lately 



TRANS. ENT. SOC. LOND. 1885. — PART II. (AUG.) 



