276 CLAVicor.NiA. [LaiJiridiklce. 



hairs ; they are composed of twelve segments, of wliicli tlie tliovacic segments are 

 larger than the rest, and terminate in a short anal appendage which serves to facilitate 

 progression; the antennae and legs are short; the larvaj and pnpaj of LathHdlus 

 minutus and Corticaria pubescens are described and figured by Perris (Ann. Fr., 1852, 

 p. 574, 581, Plate xlv.) ; the larvaj closely resemble one another, but the pubescence 

 is much shorter in the latter ; the pupa of Lathridius minuhis is very peculiar 

 by reason of the shape of the hairs with which it is clothed, which are abruptly 

 clavate at apex and pin-shaped ; the larva; probably feed on eryptogamic substances, 

 the escremeut and skin of various insects, &c. 



I. Anterior coxa3 more or less separated by the prosternum (or 

 where the prosternum is interrupted between the coxse,* with 



the club of antennae consisting of only two joints). 



i. Forehead even, without sculpture, or at most finely punc- 

 tured ; clypeus situated on the same level with the forehead, 

 from which it is separated by a simple stria Meeophtsina. 



ii. Forehead uneven, more or less strongly and rugosely sculp- 

 tuied, often channelled in the middle ; clypeus separated 

 from the forehead by a transverse depression, and usually 

 situated on a lower level Latheidiina, 



II. Anterior coxaj contiguous; club of antennaj composed of three 



or four joints Corticaeina. 



MEROPHYSINA. 



This tribe contains several genera, of which two only, Tloloparamecus 

 and Anomjiiatus, are represented in our fauna ; from the Corficarina they 

 are distinguished by having the anterior coxse separated by the pro- 

 sternum, and from the Lathridiina by the sculpture and form of the liead 

 which is almost smooth, and has the clypeiis level with the forehead, 

 and only separated from it by a simple suture ; our two genera may be 

 separated as follows : — 



I. Eyes distinct ; elytra oval without striae or at most 



with a sutural stria HoLOPARAMECTTS, Curtis, 



II. Eyes wanting ; elytra parallel-sided with rows of 



strong punctures ; form linear, subcylindrical . . Akommatus, Wesmael. 



KOIaOPARAMSCUS, Curtis. 



This genus contains some twenty-five or thirty species, which are 

 found in various parts of the world, both in tropical and temperate 

 regions ; there is, however, considerable question as to the distinctness 

 of some of them, and several appear to have been described under 

 different names, as is perhaps natural, seeing that they occur very often 

 in flour, and therefore, like so many of the corn and flour beetles, become 

 gradually cosmopolitan. Up to January, 1883, it was suj^posed that we 

 only possessed one species as British out of the eight or nine European 

 species, but in the Entomologist for that month (page 2) Mr. Sidney 

 OUiff described tAvo more as indigenous, viz. H. singularis Avhich he 



* This is to a certain extent the case with the genus Cariodere. 



