LeConte.] 



SCOLYTID.E. 343 



mera small, transverse, posterior and indistinct. Metasteraum verj^ long, 

 episterna parallel, rather wide; liiiid cox.? slightly separated. Ventral seg- 

 ments 5; first and second very short, together scarcely equal to the third, 

 which is equal to the fourth; fifth a little longer, rounded behind; last dor- 

 sal segment horizontal, partially or completely covered by the elytra, ac 

 cording as the segments are deflexed or retrac ed. 



Elytra margined and perpendicularly declivous at base, striate, variously 

 prolonged into processes at lip, according to species and s:3X. Mesonotuni 

 strongly carinate. 



Legs short, thighs s'.out, compressed; tibite shorter than the thighs, stout, 

 unguiculate, marked on the outer side with transverse ridges. Tarsi long, 

 slender, first joint as long or longer than the three following united; fourth 

 joint one-half as long as the third; fifth as long as the joints 2-4 united; 

 claws long, simple, divergent. 



This sub- family is represented in our fauna by a fow spades of Platypus 

 found chiefly in the Southern States. The species are cylindrical, and sug- 

 gest a resemblance to certain Colydiidce, from which, however, they widely 

 depart in structural characters. 



PLATYPUS Herbst. 



In this genus the maxillary palpi are large, flat, membranous, 4-jointed, 

 with the joints received one fnto the other, and the pygidium is almost or 

 entirely covered by the elytra. The sexual difterences in the processes of 

 the elytra are such as to make it diflicult to construct a table of the species: 



1. Ventral segments with elevation's 2. 



" " without elevations 3. 



2. Elevations at the posterior margin of the 



third segment v 1. flavicornis $ . 



Elevations very acute, at the posterior mar- 

 gin of the fourth segment 2. quadridentatus 9- 



3. Prothorax nearly twice as long as wide 3. compositus (^ 9 • 



" one-half longer than wide 4. rug-ulosus (f* 9- 



" with two large discoidal punctures 1. flavicornis (j^. 



1. P. flavicornis Chap., Mon. Plat. 154, f 70, ^9: Bostrichus flav. 

 Fabr., Mant. 212; Sp. Ins. i, 67; Ent. Syst. ii, 364; Syst. Kl. ii, 384; Herbst, 

 Kafer, v, 118; Scolytus flav. Oliv., Eat. 78, 4, pi. 1, f. 1. 



(^. Elytra with the third interspace somewhat elevated and roughened at 

 base; the posterior process of the elytra shorter and le^s acute; the declivity 

 of the elytra concave near the tip, and the tip itself truncate and feebly 

 emarginate. Ventral segments finely rugose, regularly convex; prothorax 

 with a large puncture each side of the anterior extremity of the short dorsal 

 impres.sed line; P. duciporu^ Chap., 1. c. 219, f 123, is a variety in which 

 the elytral process is shorter and less prominent. 



9- Elytra with the base of the third interspace less elevated; the poste- 

 rior process longer, more acute, serrate on the outer side. Ventral surface 



