Mr. T. V. Wollaston on the Goleoptera of St. Helena. 301 



cullonideous groups iVes/ofe* and Trachjjyhloeosoma • and, if in- 

 deed It be truly aboriginal (and there is no reason for suspect- 

 ing the contrary), tliat curious little blind Cossonid, the Pent- 

 arthrum sitbca'cum, may be added to the number, in which 

 case the IthyncJioj^hora alone would monojiolize no less than 

 SIX of the most anomalous endemic genera ! Indeed the only 

 other manifestly indigenous forms which I should define as 

 par excellence " abnormal " are Ilaplotlwrax of the Carabidfe, 

 and perhaps Mellisstus of the Lamelliconis, neither of which, 

 however, are so eccentric in their structure as the six Rhyn- 

 chophorous ones to which I have just alluded. 



^pari, however, from their singularity of type, it may be 

 useful, in order to illustrate the mere numerical preponderance 

 ot the weevils (as regards both species and genus) in the 

 bt.-Helena catalogue, to distribute the forty-eight members of 

 the tamia (to which I have already called attention) under the 

 twelve great sections into which the Coleoptera are usually 

 supposed to arrange themselves. I am well aware that the 

 paucity of the list itself, and perhaps likewise the totally un- 

 explored state of the pools and streams, may be sufficient to 

 account for many an apparent anomaly— such as, for instance, 

 tiie coniplete absence of the water-beetles and Brache^tra ; 

 but still, after making every allowance for the manifest im- 

 perlection of the material, the broad fact does undoubtedly 

 remain that the researches of Messrs. Melliss, Bewicke, and 

 others (and that, too, whilst by no means neglecting the mi- 

 nuter groups) have brought to light more representatives of 

 the UhynchojjJiora than of all the other departments combined 

 And that this IS truly the case, a glance at the following table 

 will sufBce to show : — 



Rhyncliophora 26 



Cordylocerata (i. e. Lamellicorns <fec.) 6 



Geodephaga 5 



Hoteroinera 3 



Philhydrida 2 



Phytophaga 2 



Pseudotrimcra 2 



Nccrophaga \ 



Priocerata 1 



Hydradephaga 



Erachelytra 



Eucerata 



48* 

 +1,* ^f ^f scarcely necessary to consider what would be tbo result were 

 tJiewholo seventy-four species whicii are enumerated in the present list 

 distributed under these twelve primarv departments, because (as aheadv 



