76 SERRICORNIA. | Throscus. 
narrowed behind, and the thorax less narrowed in front; the antenne, 
moreover, are shorter, and the elytra finely but not so closely punc- 
tured ; from all the three preceding it may be known, apart from other 
differences, by the fact that the head has no raised carine; it is, too, 
more oval than any of our other species. L. 13;-1{ mm. 
In moss, haystack and flood refuse, &c.; not common (although occasionally found 
in some numbers), and very local; Lee; Sheerness (where Mr. J. J. Walker once 
found it in abundance in moss on stumps of trees in winter); Chatham; Ripley, 
Surrey ; Forest Hill; Highgate; Eynsham; Plaistow Marshes; Dagenham; Har- 
wich ; Southsea district out of furze, by beating, January to June; Isle of Wight; 
Weymouth. 
EUCNEMIDZ. 
This family has been by some authors included under the Elaterida, 
to which it is closely allied; in fact, it appears to be somewhat doubt- 
ful whether it ought to be separated, as the only real differences seem to 
lie in the fact that the labrum is concealed, and in the insertion of the 
antenne, which, as Dr. Horn has pointed out, are inserted upon the 
front, at the inner extremity of transverse grooves, before which the 
front is expanded again ; they are placed further from the eyes than in 
the Elateride, but in many cases, e.g. Hucnemis and Melasis, are very 
far from being contiguous, a character which has sometimes been put 
forward for the family; another mistake that has been made with 
regard to this family is the statement that they do not possess the 
power of leaping when placed on their backs, which is so characteristic 
of the Elateride ; in some cases it is absent, and in others little deve- 
loped, but in Hucnemis, as pointed out by Ahrens seventy years ago, it 
is very marked, and the same is the case with other genera. 
The family contains nearly a hundred genera, comprising about five 
hundred species; they are chiefly found in tropical countries, but a fair 
number are found in Europe and North America; if we exclude the 
Thoroseidee and Cerophytidz, we may reckon fifteen genera and thirty 
species as occurring on the former continent, of which three genera and 
three species are found in Britain; these are all rare, and the genus 
Eucnemis has only quite recently been detected in the New Forest. 
The larvee of the Eucnemide appear to bear a somewhat close relation to those of 
the Buprestide, but those that are known differ from them by having the labial 
palpi and maxille either entirely wanting or quite rudimentary. Schiédte classified 
the larva of Melasis buprestoides amongst the Elaterids, all of which he considered 
to be carnivorous, but Dr. Sharp has pointed out that the larve of Hucnemis 
capucina are certainly not truly carnivorous, but probably live by imbibing the 
juices of the decayed wood in which they are found, 
J. Maxillary palpi with the last joint acute; antenne 
distant, flabellate in male, pectinate in female; thorax 
CACO SobiottS S56 6 4 Ab ow oe Oo 6 GG bi NSNh (OME 
II. Maxillary palpi with the last joint large, more or less 
dilated ; thorax widest behind, 
