394 CLASSIFICATION OF THE RHTNCHOPHOROUS COLEOPTERA. 



are much smaller, and imbricated upo.n the 5th and 4th respec- 

 tively' ; the side margin of the 1st and 2d is very narrow, and the 

 side pieces of the metasternum 'are scarcely' visible. The elytra 

 are connate, with the lateral groove of the inner face narrow and 

 sharply' defined, becoming broader and indefinite at the posterior 

 fourth ; on the inner face are seen eight rows of punctures, cor- 

 responding to ridges of tul)ercles on the back. The tarsi are 

 4-jointed, narrow, or at least the 3d joint not wider than the 

 others, deeply grooved beneath ; the tibia are truncate, without 

 spurs, the front pair a little incurved at tip in both sexes. Claws 

 simple, not contiguous. 



The genera of this family are stated by Mr. Jekel,* to differ b}' 

 the form of the ej'es, some being Cyclophthalmes, others Ox3'oph- 

 thalmes ; also in the autennal grooves, some being Obliquiscrobes, 

 others Lateriscrobes. The vestiture of the under surface of the 

 tarsi varies in diff"erent genera ; in Psalidura they are spongy seri- 

 ceous beneath, in others ciliate or spinous. 



In other genera, the sexual characters are less remarkable than 

 in Psalidura, and will be found to consist chiefl}- in the division 

 of the last dorsal segment into two, as in the other families of the 

 series. 



The Brach3'cerid8e are restricted to Africa and the neighboring 

 parts of Europe and Asia. They are stout insects, with ventri- 

 cose elytra, suddenly deflexed behind, and extending far upon the 

 flanks, like the first iribes of Tenebrionidse, which they also re- 

 semble in the large mentum, flat, filling the whole of the buccal 

 cavity. The beak is short and stout, thicker at the extremity, 

 alike in both sexes ; the autennal grooves are wanting (Episus) ; 

 or deep and directed downwards, almost confluent in the gular re- 

 gion (Brachycerus, Microcerus). The antennae are short, straight 

 or feebly geniculate, scape forming less than J the length ; joints 

 of the funiculus 7, rather short, club solid, obconical, truncate 

 or subacuminate at tip. Eyes rounded or transverse and acumi- 

 nate at the lower end. Mandibles stout, short, more prominent 

 in Brachj'cerus, where they have the lower margin more produced 

 into a cutting edge : the front surface is rough and somewhat an- 

 gular, but without any trace of the rounded scar seen in Otiorhyn- 

 chidse. The scutellum is scarcely visible; the elytra, as above 

 mentioned, are ventricose, irregularly tuberculate or costate, very 



* Ann. Eut. Soc. France, 1864, 514. 



