Cleonus. | RHYNCHOPHORA. 239 
oblong or subquadrate and bisinuate at base ; the prosternum is deeply 
emarginate at apex; the elytra are long and somewhat depressed at 
base; the legs are moderately long and the femora are not armed with 
teeth. 
The genus is a very extensive one and, if we include the subgenera into 
which it has been divided; contains upwards of three hundred species, 
which are mostly found in Europe and Northern and Central Asia; a 
few, however, have been described from Africa (Algeria and Cape of 
Good Hope), India, &c. ; they are found in sandy places at the roots of 
various plants; the larve feed in the roots and undergo their transfor- 
mations in a sort of cocoon, always beneath the earth. ' 
When we consider that more than a hundred species are found in 
Europe, it must be admitted that the genus is very poorly represented in 
Britain by four, one of which is almost doubtfully indigenous, and 
another extremely rare; they may be distinguished as follows :— 
I. Second joint of posterior tarsi short, scarcely longer 
than broad; third joint of tarsi with spongy pubescence 
beneath. 
1. First joint of funiculus of antenne at least as long 
as second ; length 10-15 mm. . . . C. suLctrostris, DL. 
2. First joint of funiculus of antenne very ‘short, 
much shorter thansecond. ...... . . C. ALBIDUS, fF. 
(fasciatus, Mill.) 
II. Second joint of posterior tarsi elongate, plainly 
longer than broad; tarsi with joints 1-3 furnished 
with lateral setee and without pubescence beneath. 
1. Underside of thorax with a tubercular promi- 
nence before each coxa; vertex of head distinctly 
ridged ; elytra longer in proportion to thorax . . C. NEBULOSUS, ZL. 
2. Underside of thorax without distinct tubercular 
prominences before coxe ; vertex of head scarcely 
ridged ; elytra shorter in proportion to thorax , . C. @LAucus, F. 
(turbatus, Fahrs.) 
C. sulcirostris, LL. (piger, Scop.; scutellatus, Boh.). Black, thickly 
clothed with greyish pubescence ; vertex of head thickly pubescent ; 
rostrum with three deep almost equal, furrows; thorax about as long 
as broad, with large scattered bare granulations, dise with two broad 
dark denuded longitudinal bands, separated by a narrow light band, 
which is usually continued on vertex ; elytra with fine punctured striz, 
pubescence more or less thick, with two oblique dark denuded fasciz on 
each, directed towards apex and meeting or nearly meeting at suture; a 
callose spot towards apex is also denuded; these markings are very 
variable and depend in great measure on the freshness of the insect ; in 
newly-emerged specimens the elytra are sometimes almost of a uniform 
grey colour. L. 10-15 mm. 
Male with the base of the abdomen impressed in middle and the last 
segment very slightly emarginate at apex. 
On various species of thistles ; local but often common wheiefound ; it appears to be 
