APPENDIX. 469 
“Series Oliorrhynchine aptere.—Ale rudimentarie,—Metanotum 
membraneum. 
“These important characters divide the Otiorrhynchinz in a natural 
manner, and though they cannot be directly observed without breaking 
up the specimen, as the elytra are frequently more or less soldered together 
in the apterous forms, yet it is very easy to distinguish the members of 
the two groups by external minor characters. In the Otiorrhynchine 
apterce there are no prominent shoulders to the elytra, the exposed 
portion of the scutellum is usually very minute, and scarcely penetrates 
at all between the exposed parts of the wing-cases: the metasternum 
is always short, and the part of the mesothoracic episterna left uncovered 
by the elytra is small or moderate in size; although this latter point is 
very variable it is of great assistance in separating the insects of the two 
groups, and indeed was made use of by Horn as a means of dividing 
the family. 
“Tn the Otiorrhynchine alate the shoulders of the elytra are distinct 
and stand out more or less laterally, the tip of the scutellum separates 
the exposed bases of the elytra, the metasternum is either elongate or short, 
and the uncovered part of the mesothoracic episterna either moderate in 
size or large.” 
The results of Dr. Sharp’s work on the Rhynchitide and Attelabide 
have already been referred to (p. 102), and we may be certain that 
great light will be thrown upon the Rhynchophora generally by his 
present researches; as far, however, as our fauna is concerned the 
Classification adopted in the present volume will be found to be of use 
for all practical purposes, except, perhaps, in the case of one or two 
obscure families or genera for which it is hard to find characters at once 
distinctive and obvious. 
