74 SERRICORNIA, [Throscide. 
which are hairy and usually emarginate or divided ; antenne inserted 
on the front, received in grooves beneath, 11-joimted, sometimes 
serrate, sometimes as in our single genus, with a serrate 3-jointed 
club ; prosternum with an anterior rounded lobe protecting the mouth, 
slightly prolonged behind into a flat process received in the meso- 
sternum, which is short ; elytra completely covering abdomen ; abdomen 
with five ventral segments; anterior and middle coxe small, rounded, 
and not prominent; posterior cox dilated internally ; legs short, 
retractile ; tarsi short, 5-jointed; the species are slow in their movye- 
ments, and are found by sweeping herbage or flowers, at the roots of 
grass, in moss, haystack and flood refuse, &c.; they are small and 
inconspicuous-looking insects, and in some cases are very hard to deter- 
mine with accuracy. 
According to the Munich catalogue the family contains four genera 
and more than a hundred species, which are widely distributed both in 
temperate and tropical climates; two genera, Drapeles and Throscus, 
are found in Europe, represented by about a dozen species; of these, 
four species, all belonging to the latter genus, occur in Britain, 
THROSCUS, Laireille. (Trivagus, Kugelann.)* 
This genus contains about one quarter of the species at present known 
as belonging to the family; these are chiefly found in Europe and 
North America ; a few have been recorded from Brazil, Northern India, 
and the Australian region, but as a rule their place is taken in the 
tropics by the genus Drapetes; our British species may be divided as 
follows :— 
I. Length exceeding 2 mm. ; colour, as a rule, darker. 
i. Eyes divided until middle; thorax less narrowed in 
fronts ey ete ae ee Gh st et ie ee DER MESTOLD RSS 77, 
ii. Eyes divided considerably beyond middle; thorax 
evidently more narrowed in front, at all events in the 
malec0 6 ss 2) Pens Ge ee ee Gis Of OAR INGRRONS  bonur 
II, Length not exceeding 2 mm. ; colour, as a rule, lighter ; 
eyes divided considerably beyond middle. 
ji. Head with two raised lines; form longer and less oval; 
antenng longer . . . . © + + «© « «© « » . JT. ELATEROIDES, Heer. 
ii. Head without raised lines; form shorter and more 
oval; antenne shorter. . . . .- - =. ». . ». - YT. OBTUSUS, Curt. 
T. dermestoides, L. (adstrictor, Panz.). Elongate-oval, more or 
less narrowed at apex, of a reddish-brown colour, rather thickly 
clothed with fine silky recumbent greyish pubescence ; head with two 
feebly raised parallel longitudinal lines, eyes divided to middle; 
antenne as long as thorax, with a 8-jointed club; thorax broader 
* The name Trivagus, Kugelann, has the priority, but, as Erichson has pointed out» 
it is applied by its author to a genus composed of both Throscus and Bylurus, and 
therefore must be dropped for both. 
