Hylecetus.| SERRICORNIA. 177 
Gaboon region ; they are elongate subcylindrical insects, with the palpi 
of the male very strongly flabellate, and the antenne of the female 
strongly serrate or pectinate ; the abdomen is composed of six (according 
to some authors seven) ventral segments, and the tarsi are elongate, 
longer than the tibie, which latter, with the exception of the anterior 
pair, are armed with a sharp tooth or spine at apex; our single species 
is found in oak, fir, and birch, and varies very much in size; Mr. 
Matthews has observed that out of a large number taken from one tree, 
those which were found in the trunk or larger branches were very much 
larger than those found higher up the tree in the smaller branches or 
twigs, these latter appearing to have adapted themselves to a scantier 
diet, and so to have become depauperized. 
H. dermestoides, L. (¢ proboscideus, F.). Elongate, subcylin- 
drical, clothed with yellowish pubescence ; head large, coarsely punc- 
tured, eyes moderately prominent, antennze feebly serrate in male, 
strongly serrate or pectinate in female ; thorax transverse, coarsely and 
not closely punctured, with traces of a central furrow or depression, 
posterior angles obtuse ; scutellum quadrangular, with a raised keel in 
front; elytra very finely and closely sculptured, with more or less dis- 
tinct traces of raised lines; legs slender. L. 6-15 mm. 
Male shorter and narrower, black, with the elytra testaceous, more or 
less black towards apex, sometimes entirely black; legs testaceous, 
sometimes slightly infuscate, maxillary palpi strongly flabellate. 
Female longer and broader, with the thorax more transverse and 
more rounded at sides, entirely testaceous or reddish-testaceous with the 
eyes and breast black ; maxillary palpi not flabellate, antenne strongly 
serrate. 
In oak, fir, and birch; very local; Sherwood Forest, locally common; Cannock 
Chase ; Stretford, near Manchester ; Scotland, Highlands, rare, in stumps of Scotch 
fir; Tay district. 
LIMEXYLON, Fabricius. 
This genus in many respects resembles the preceding, especially as 
regards the flabellate maxillary palpi of the male, but the males and 
females differ much less than in Hylecetus, and both sexes have the 
antenne subfiliform and considerably longer; the thorax, moreover, is 
longer than broad, and the abdomen has one ventral segment less ; the 
scutellum has no carina in front ; the anterior tarsi, also, are consider- 
ably shorter, being plainly shorter than the tibie; the genus contains: 
three species, one from Europe, one from North America, and a third 
from Tasmania. 
L. navale appears to be very common in oak forests in the north of 
Europe, and is said to do considerable damage in the dockyards of 
Sweden; Linné, we are told, was commissioned by the King of Sweden 
to inquire into the question of the injury done by this insect to ship 
VOL. IV. N 
