112 RHYNCHOPHORA. [Pratyrrhinus. 
before base is interrupted ; the elytra are oblong, parallel-sided and 
rather depressed. 
P. latirostris, F. A very large and conspicuous species, oblong, 
depressed ; rostrum (except apex), head, scutellum, apex of elytra and 
some indistinct wavy bands on the same, abdomen and part of legs 
clothed with ashy scale-like pubescence (or as Thomson calls it ‘sub- 
squamose’); upper surface dull and rugose, elytra with raised lines ; 
thorax about as long as broad with sides slightly and evenly rounded and 
produced into a lobe at about middle and with a raised transverse carina 
before base; elytra broader at base than thorax, parallel-sided, very broadly 
and bluntly rounded at apex; legs moderately long. L. 9-12 mm. 
Male with the abdomen longitudinally impressed in middle, the 
antenne with joints 3-4 elongate and the eighth subovate. 
Female with the abdomen without impression, and the antenne with 
joints 3-4 shorter, the eighth being round. 
In fungi (Spheria) on trees, especially on old beech and ash trees; rare; 
Stephens records it as rare in the London district, but I know of no captures in recent 
years; not uncommon near Cheltenham (Rye); Salford Priors (Blatch); Bristol ; 
Ugbrooke Park near Chudleigh, Devon (Bowring) ; Swansea (occasionally on ash 
trees) ; Scotland, extremely rare, Tay district (Sharp); it probably occurs in inter- 
vening localities ; Mr. Rye (British Beetles, Ist Ed. p. 179) says “ it lives upon 
Spheria and other fungi growing on ash trees, &c., burrowing also in the rotten 
wood, or lurking under loose bark, and having a particularly comical way of elevating 
itself by its front legs, though usually of sedate appearance.” 
TROPIDERES, Schonherr. 
This is rather a large genus, containing nearly fifty species, of which 
about. a dozen are found in Europe; the remainder are very widely 
distributed, representatives having been described from Cuba (in which 
island no less than twelve species have occurred), Java, Mauritius, 
Isle of Bourbon, Calcutta, Ceylon, Tahiti, North America, South 
Africa, Tasmania, &c.; they are comparatively small, robust insects, 
and somewhat resemble Brachytarsus in general appearance ; they are, 
however, easily distinguished from the latter genus by the distinct un- 
interrupted transverse raised keel before base ; the eyes are entire and 
the antenne comparatively long, attaining at least tu the base of the 
thorax ; the anterior coxe are scarcely distant; the first joint of the 
tarsi is much longer than the second. 
The larvee of 7. albirostris, T. sepicola, and T. xiveirostris are described by 
Perris (Larves des Coléoptéres, p. 360-361): they are thick white grubs with the 
head reddish and the legs somewhat developed, but do not call for any particular 
remark ; they burrow into the dead branches of oak, hornbeam, poplar, &e. 
The three British species are extremely rare, and are represented in 
very few collections ; they may be distinguished as follows :— 
I. Thorax without tufts of raised hairs on disc. 
i. Thorax plainly bifoveolate on disc ; rostrum larger 
and more dilated at apex . -.- - + + . . - IT. ALBIROSTRIS, Herbst. 
