Introduction 35 



habits. They have been commonly divided into Cerambycidse, Bnich- 

 idse and Chrysomelidse, but the last division should probably be much 

 subdivided, in harmony with the habits and character of the larvse. 

 Handlirsch (p. 1279) says there have been at least three Unes of descent. 



RHYNCHOPHORA 



Have been lately discussed in the ' ' Rhynchophora of N. E. America." 

 I have only to add a reference to Dr. Sharp's studies ' by which Itkycerus 

 is shown to belong to the family Belidse; and Dr. Pierce's recent studies,^ 

 with which I cannot agree in some points, especially in the transfer of 

 Scolytidse from Rhynchophora to Phytophaga on the basis of tarsal 

 characters, which have been discussed at length above. The characters 

 developed by Leconte, the rigid palpi and the single gular suture, seem 

 to me to exceed in importance both tarsal and beak characters. The 

 union of Phytophaga and Rhynchophora into a single series has fre- 

 quently been proposed, but there are weighty reasons against doing so; 

 I am free to say that one of the results of my study has been to dis- 

 courage all such forced unions and to seek the true lines of descent by 

 isolating aberrant forms. It is quite likely that the resemblance of 

 Choragus to the Cryptocephalini, of other Anthribids to the Bruchidse 

 and of certain Cossonids to Clavicornia, indicates more than one line 

 of ancestry for the Rhynchophora ; it may also be urged that the resem- 

 blance between certain Scolytids and the Bostrichidae is the result of 

 convergence following similar habits. 



CONCLUSION 



Such matters, however, are outside the domain of the present essay. 

 My object has been to study the phylogeny of the Coleoptera sufficiently 

 to arrange the families as they exist at the present time, substantially in 

 accordance with then' relative degree of derivation from the primitive 

 beetles. And even if it could be conclusively shown that Rhynchophora 

 were descended entirely from Phytophaga, and they in turn from Das- 

 cilloidea, which I do not beUeve, it would not justify a corresponding 

 arrangement of the catalogue. So far from being conclusively shown 

 are such speculations regarding the origin of Rhynchophora, and the 



1 Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc. 1918, pp. 215-218. 



2 Proc. U. S. N. M. LI, 1916, pp. 461-464. 



