4 Mr. S. S. Saunders on 



habits of the Meloldce above referred to, it is shown that 

 in the primary larva of Sitaris the mandibles are acute 

 and recurved ('aigues et recourbees/p. 317), well adapted 

 for the purpose of lacerating the delicate tegument of 

 the Q^g (pp. 328, 329) , that in their secondary form, as 

 feeders on honey, these organs become small, obtuse, and 

 excavated or spoon-shaped within {' obtuses et excavees au 

 cute interne en forme de cuiller,' p. 335) , and that in a 

 subsequent stage, which he designates as '^ la troisieme 

 larve," they again revert to a ve^-y acutely pointed form 

 {'en pointe tres aigue,' p. 341). 



Nor under anomalous circumstances of development 

 and metamorphosis, amid diversified conditions and 

 aberrant forms, can it be considered so extraordinary 

 that the 8tylopidce should participate with such ab- 

 normal types, in their divergence from conventional 

 formularies of organization, although in many respects 

 closely allied with several Coleopterous groups, dis- 

 tinguished from all others by tJie same parasitic asso- 

 ciations (q) , and, so far as hitherto ascertained, by the 

 same primary larval conditions, unlike those oj any other 

 hnoivn race : as with Myodites in their rudimentary elytra 

 and neuration of wing; with Rhipiphorus and Emenadia 

 in the longitudinal folding of the latter ; with Rliipidius 

 in their eyeless apterous females ; with the males of all 

 the aforesaid in their highly developed ramose antennas ; 

 nor less so with Meloe, Sitaris (r) , and Zonitis {s) , in their 

 remarkable coarctate pupal metamorphosis, and prelimi- 

 nary larval transformations. 



While, therefore, harmonizing with these Coleopterous 

 types in so many points of habit, structure, and analogy, 

 from the first to the last stages of their existence, the 

 additional evidence which time has thus brought to bear 

 upon such intrinsic relations and affinities, may well 

 suffice, in accordance with Latreille's suggestion {t) , to 

 rescue them from unmerited severance and seclusion. 



(5) Lacordaire ; Gen. d. Coleopt. Tom. V. p. 631. 



(r) Fabre; loc cit.,Tp. 321 (Sitaris) ; p. 353 (Meloe). 



(s) Giraud; Ann. Soc. Eut. de France; ser. 4 Tom. VI. (1866) p. 494 

 (Zonitis mutica). Fabre ; ^ihi supra, Tab. XVII. fig. 9 (?). 



(t) Tempus diicamus, et dies alteri lucem afferrent. (Gen. Crust, et 

 Insect, Tom. IV. p. 388.) 



