THE NECROPHAGA, OR CLAVICORNES. 95 



jectiug from the femora; they are also more convex 

 (some, indeed, being quite globular), with short legs and 

 antennae, the posterior coxae close together, the tarsi 

 variable in number of joints, and the mandibles with a 

 blunt tooth at the base. They are never found in ani- 

 mal matter, but chiefly in fungi and dead leaves and under 

 rotten bark, being mostly commoner towards the north, 

 and more readily found in the evening about autumn, 

 especially near fir-trees. The males frequently have the 

 hinder femora dilated and toothed, the hinder tibiae 

 elongated and curved, the basal joints of the front tarsi 

 widened, or the left mandible elongated, hooked, or even 

 bearing a horn ; in all these cases, however, individuals 

 of smaller development often exhibit intermediate con- 

 ditions, sometimes not even differing from the females 

 in these particulars. 



The number of joints in the tarsi is very variable : thus, 

 in Hydnobius all the tarsi are five-jointed; in Anisotoma 

 and Cyrtusa the two front pairs have each five joints, 

 and the posterior only four ; Colenis has the four hinder 

 pairs four-jointed and the anterior five-jointed ; and in 

 Agaricophagus the front pair are four-jointed, whilst the 

 two hinder pairs have only three joints. All the above 

 genera have the same number of joints in both sexes, but 

 in Liodes, Amphicyllis, and Agathidium, the males have 

 five joints to the two front pairs and four to the hinder 

 pair ; the females of Liodes and Agathidium having 

 either four joints to all the tarsi, or five to the front 

 pair and four to the two hinder pairs, and of Amphi- 

 cyllis, four joints to all the tarsi. The club of the an- 

 tennae, also, varies from five to three joints. 



Anisotoma cinnamomea (Plate VI, Fig. 3, male), the 

 largest of the family, is found in truffles, and by sweeping 



