Dascillide. | SERRICORNIA. 117 
are chiefly distinguished from the latter genus by having the antenne 
strongly branched and the tarsi differently clothed beneath ; as at present 
constituted the Dascillid contain about thirty or forty genera and 
upwards of three hundred species ; the genus Dascillus might perhaps 
be made the type of a distinct family apart from the Cyphonida, but it 
is perhaps better to follow the usual arrangement and regard them as 
tribes. The following are the chief characteristics of the family :— 
Antenne distant, inserted immediately in front of the eyes, 11-jointed, 
filiform or slightly serrate ; mentum corneous ; ligula large, membranous, 
often divided into lobes or lacinize ; labrum distinct ; anterior coxe 
distant at base, conical, anterior coxal cavities open behind; meso- 
sternum small; metasternum moderate; posterior coxe transverse, 
nearly contiguous, immoveable, and receiving the femora ; legs short or 
moderate ; tibiee slender, tarsi evidently 5-jointed, shorter than the tibia, 
frequently with membranous lobes beneath ; claws simple or pectinate. 
I. Mandibles prominent ; antenne with the third joint longer than 
the fourth; anterior cox with distinct trochantin ‘ 
II. Mandibles not prominent; anteune with the third joint 
shorter than the fourth; anterior cox without trochantin. . . CyYPHOoNINa. 
DASCILLINA. 
This tribe contains some fifteen or sixteen genera, which are very 
widely distributed from Kamtschatka to the Straits of Magellan; two 
only, Daseillus and Pseudodactylus, are found in Europe, represented by 
four species ; of these one genus and one species are found in Britain. 
DASCILLUS, Latreille. (Atopa, Paykull.) 
About a dozen species are comprised in this genus, which are found 
in widely separated regions of the world, representatives occurring in 
Europe, North America, Java, India, China, and the southern part of 
South America; they are distinguished by the peculiar formation of the 
maxille and labium ; the outer lobe of the former is divided into two 
elongate laciniz, which extend considerably beyond the inner lobe, and 
the labium is also laciniate, the laciniz, as is the case with the maxille, 
being membranous and hairy and considerably projecting ; in fact the 
trophi of this genus are among the most remarkable of any of the 
Coleoptera ; three species occur in Europe, of which one is found in 
Britain ; it is a comparatively large, robust, and convex insect, of oblong- 
oval form, with the second to the fourth tarsal joints furnished with 
membranous plates beneath ; the larva is described by Erichson (Archiv. 
de Wiegm., 1841, i. p. 88); it is very short and contracted, and clothed 
with regular rows of scanty bristly hairs ; it bears a strong analogy to 
the larve of the Lamellicorns, but its head is much larger and the body 
is not curved ; the antenne are 4-jointed, and there are no ocelli; the 
legs are rather long; the abdominal segments are very short. with the 
exception of the last, which is as long as the two preceding together, 
DASCILLINA. 
