CLASSIFICATION OF THE RHYNCHOPHOROUS COLEOPTERA. 463 



The tribe Alopliini retains a remnant of a form seen otlierwise 

 only in the preceding family ; the elytra are convex, with the 

 humeri not prominent and the protliorax is comparatively small. 

 The prominence of the gular margin easily distinguishes it from 

 all other tribes. The tibiae are slightly mucronate at the inner 

 angle of the tip, and the terminal surface is well defined, not lat- 

 eral. The apical margin of the mandibles is curved, sharp and 

 prominent, thus making the outer face broad and flat, with a well 

 defined margin. Liophloeus inqidnatxis Mann, from Alaska, be- 

 longs to this tribe, and seems scarcely difterent from Alophus, 

 except by the shorter and stouter funiculus. Lepidophorus lin- 

 eaticollis on the other hand has an entirel}'^ different oral structure, 

 and is apparently allied to Phytonomus, etc. 



Ithycerus is a completely isolated form, having no relation with 

 other genera. As pointed out by Dr. Horn,* the remark of Prof. 

 Lacordaire, that the ^ has 6 ventral segments, is an erroneous 

 interpretation of the ver^^ convex last dorsal segment, which can 

 be seen from beneath. 



BllEWmi'DM. 



The species of this family are remarkable for the very elongate 

 form, and by the great sexual differences which sometimes occur in 

 the mouth organs. In our own Eupsalis mi)uda for instaiice, the 

 beak of the male is broad, short and flat, with large prominent 

 mandibles, while in the female the beak is long and sl6nder, with 

 very small mandibles. But two genera occur in our fauna ; Eup- 

 salis on the Atlantic slope from Canada to Texas, and Breuthus 

 in Lower California. 



The mouth is not constructed on the same plan as that of the 

 long beaked Curculionidae ; the gular peduncle is wanting, and the 

 mentum varies in form according to the shape of the buccal open- 

 ing, which it nearly fills, thus concealing the maxillae. The family 

 is also easily known by the antenme being 11- jointed, not clavate 

 nor geniculate, nearly moniliform in Eupsalis, somewhat com- 

 pressed and broader externally in Brenthus. 



The eyes are rounded, the lenses are covered with a perfectly 

 smooth membrane, and are consequently' not granulated, the front 

 coxie are separated by the prosternum ; the metasternum is long, 

 and the side pieces are distinct and very narrow. The 1st and 2d 



* Proc. Am. Phil. Soc. 1873, 447. 



