190 STAPnYLiNiD^. \_Tacliiipnrina. 



B. Maxillary palpi filiform ; labial palpi not 

 thickened. 



a. Last joint of maxillary palpi very little nar- 

 rower at base than apex of penultimate joint . . Bolitobius, Staph. 



b. Last joint of maxillary palpi plainly narrower 



at base than apex of penultimate joint .... Bevopoeus, Eraatz. 

 ii. Last joint of maxillary palpi small or very small, 

 slender, and subulate, distinctly shorter and nar- 

 rower than the penultimate MycetopoeuS, Mannh. 



C0N0S03\ZA, Kraatz. {Conurus, Stephens.) 



This name must be adopted for the genus Coturus, Stephens, the 

 Litter name having been used in ornithology ; the genus contains about 

 eighty described species, wliich are very widely distributed throughout 

 the world in both the northern and southern hemispheres. There are 

 six British species^ the first two of which in the following table are 

 much larger than the rest, and are easily distinguished by their size ; 

 the species for the most part are found in faggots, rotten stumps, and 

 among dead leaves ; they are very rapid in their movements ; the sexual 

 characters do not vary much in our species, and need not be specified 

 separately ; in the male the seventh dorsal segment is entire and more 

 or less rounded at apex, the seventh ventral segment is angularly 

 emarginate at apex, disclosing the segment of armature ; the anterior tarsi 

 are more or less strongly dilated ; in the female the seventh dorsal seg- 

 ment is furnished with four long, more or less sharp, parallel lobes, of 

 which the two central ones are more slender and slightly shorter, and the 

 seventh ventral segment is entire, rounded, and ciliate at apex. The 

 Conuri may be at once separated from the Tachyiiori by their very strono- 

 pubescence and consequent dull appearance. 



The larva of Conurus li/toreus is described by Perris (Ann. Franc. 1846 (p. 332 

 and pi. 9)) under the name of Tachyporus cellaris : it is rather depressed, linear, 

 smooth and shining, chiefly of a reddish-brown colour, the portions at the sides of 

 and between the scuta being whitish, and the last segment of abdomen entirely 

 whitish ; the prothorax is larger than the nieso- and nieta-thorax, the three together 

 being trapezoidal; the abdominal segments, except the last, are almost hexagonal, 

 contracted in front and behind, so that the intersections are marked ; the last 

 segment is quadrilateral, and is furnished with two long reddish four-jointed ccrci 

 and a long whitish anal appendage which is bilobed at its extremity ; * the legs are 

 rather long, and terminate in a single claw ; the sides of the head and the lateral 

 angles of the segments are furnished with reddish hairs. L. 5-6 mm. 



This larva lives under bark of dead logs of oak, pine, &c., and feeds on the insects 

 contained in the fungi that grow under the bark ; it is swift in its movements ; the 

 pupa is white and smooth (except for a few " styli motorii " on the vertex, &c.), and 

 presents no peculiarity. 



* The anal appendage in certain larvae is often slightly lobed or furnished 

 with warty prominences ; this formation enables it to be used for purposes of 

 progression. 



