Anato'm,y of the Male Genital Tube in Goleoptera. 627 



as one family ( = Silphidae s. 1.) then this is more primitive 

 than StaphyUnidae, and we may distinguish the two by 

 the presence of a basal sclerite in Silphidae which is 

 absent in StaphyUnidae. Of the other families included 

 in the Brachelytra, Leptinidae and Platypsyllidae approxi- 

 mate the Bathysciinae division of the Silphidae, while 

 Pselaphidae, Scydmaenidae and Scaphidiidae approach 

 StaphyUnidae. Clambidae is highly specialised, but ap- 

 pears nearest to the Bathysciinae ; it is, therefore, a 

 family long separated from the most primitive form of 

 the Brachelytra. 



rSCYDMAENIDAE 

 J PSELAPHIDAE 

 /LEPTINIDAE 1 SCAPHIDIIDAE 



\ PLATYPSYLLIDAE ISTAPHYLINIDAE 



CLAMBIDAE 



BATHYSCIIANE SILPHIANE 



? PRIMITIVE BATHYSCIINAE 



AFFINITIES OF THE STAPHYLINOIDEA. 



(8) SCARABAEOIDEA, OR LaMELLICORNIA. 



It is generally considered that this is one of the most 

 distinct of the great divisions of the Goleoptera, and our 

 investigations quite confirm this idea. At the same time 

 much difference of opinion exists as to the families and 

 their relations inter se, some naturalists considering Luca- 

 nidae and Scarabaeidae as incapable of distinction, while 

 others maintain that they have but little affinity.* Pro- 

 bably the solution of the difficulty will be found by 

 increasing the number of recognised families. Usually 



* See Escherich, Wien. ent. Zeit. xii, 1893, p. 265. 



