186 SERRICORNIA. [ Anobitdae. 
A considerable number of genera and species are contained in the 
family, which is by many authors included as a tribe under the 
Ptinide ; these are widely distributed over the surface of the world, but 
appear to be chiefly characteristic of temperate and colder climates ; 
five of the eight European genera are represented in Britain; the larve 
differ but little from those of the Ptinide, and do not require any 
separate description. Professor Westwood observes (Classification, 1. 
271) that when full fed they construct a cocoon of soft silky matter, 
mixed with the substances upon which they have been feeding, within 
which they are transformed to pups, and that it would appear that the 
larva has the instinct to continue the boring of its burrow until it has 
nearly reached the surface, so that a slight barrier only remains, which 
the perfect insect can pierce without difficulty. 
The family may be divided, for convenience sake, into the following 
three tribes :— 
I. Antenne not serrate or pectinate, with the last three joints 
longer and usually broader than the preceding ; first ventral 
segment not excavated for the reception of the hind legs (in 
our species)* . . . « . ANOBIINA. 
II. Antenne serrate or pectinate, rarely Habellate: ath the lant 
joints, as arule, not jonger than the rest; first ventral seg- 
ment not excavated for the reception of the legs bg ht ve . XYLETININA. 
III. Antenne with the three last joints serrate, much enlarged ; 
first ventral segment deeply excavated, on each side, for the 
reception of the hindlegs. . . . ~ . « © + « « « « DORCATOMINA. 
ANOBIINA. 
_ In this tribe the head is much deflexed, and received when at rest on 
the under surface of the thorax, which is excavated beneath to receive 
it, except in Dryophilus; this latter genus might perhaps, with 
advantage, be formed into a separate tribe, as it “also differs in the 
formation of the antenne, which have the last joints more slender in the 
male, and are more contiguous at base; the antenna, in the tribe, are, as 
Dr. Horn observes, usually received into a more or less distinct 
excavation between the front and middle cox, which is sometimes pro- 
longed into the metasternum, but the head is never excavated beneath 
for their reception; the fifth joint of the tarsi is very often dilated and 
membranous beneath. 
The species belonging to this tribe are mostly found in old wood, and 
several frequent old houses ; during the season of pairing they have a 
habit of striking their jaws upon the wood on which they are standing 
as a signal to their mates, who reply in the same manner ; this produces 
a ticking noise, which is searcely audible in the day when various other 
* The first ventral segment is excavated in Theca and Eupactus; the former 
genus, however, appears to be now referred by some authors to the Dorcatomina. 
