498 



PRINOS PROMEROPS. 



PRINOS (Linnaeus). A genus of North Ame- 

 rican evergreen shrubs, commonly called winter- 

 berry. The flowers are hexandrous, and the genus 

 belongs to Rhamnaceas. The species grow in any 

 light peaty soil, and are increased by layers. 



PRIONIDiE (Leach). A family of coleopterous 

 insects, belonging to the section Tetramcra, and sub- 

 section Longicornes, distinguished by having the upper 

 lip obsolete, the body generally of large size and de- 

 pressed. The jaws often very large, especially in the 

 males ; the antennae of moderate length, the thorax 

 often denticulated at the sides. The family is of 

 considerable extent, and comprises some of the most 

 gigantic insects of the order to which it belongs ; 

 thus, Prionus gigas is six inches and a half in length, 

 and P. cerviconiis five inches and a half including the 

 mandibles. They frequent the great forests of tro- 

 pical climes in which the trees are old and of a large 

 size, as it is in the wood of the latter that the larvse 

 reside. These larvse do not materially differ from 

 those of other beetles having similar habits ; the head 

 is small and the body thick, fleshy, and depressed, 

 with the legs very minute. Those larvte are sup- 

 posed by some authors to be the Cossus of the Romans ; 

 and it is certain that they are greedily devoured by 

 the negroes in the West Indies. When they have 

 attained their full growth they spin a cocoon of silk 

 with chips of wood, within which they undergo their 

 transformations. They take care to place this cocoon 

 near the surface of the tree, so that the insect, when 

 arrived at the imago state, may the more easily find 

 its way to the open air. The females are provided 

 with a corneous tubular borer, which they introduce 

 into crevices in the bark in order to deposit their 

 eggs. During the day they remain quiescent in the 

 woods, but come forth in the twilight and fly round 

 the trees. The family comprises the genera Spondylus 

 and Prionus, which latter has recently been divided by 

 M. Serville into a very great number of sub-genera. 

 We possess in England but a single species Prionus 

 coriarius, which is about an inch and a half in length, 

 and of a dark brown colour. See 'CERAMBYCID^E. 



PRISMATOCARPUS (Heritier). A genus of 

 annuals and two or three perennials, natives of Europe 

 and South Africa. The flowers are pentandrous, and 

 the plants belong to Campanulaceae. The genus was 

 long ranked as Campanulas, until separated by Heritier. 

 The African species are treated as greenhouse plant?, 

 and the annual sorts as tender annuals ; that is, raised 

 from seed in a hotbed, and afterwards planted in the 

 open borders. 



PRIVET is the Ligustrum vulgare of Linnaeus, a 

 European shrub, much used in forming ornamental 

 shrubberies. It belongs to Okitife. 



PROCTOTRUPID^E (OxYum, Latreille). A 

 family of hymenopterous insects of considerable 

 extent, belonging to the sub-section Pupivora, having 

 the wings almost destitute of nervures, the antennae 

 composed of from ten to fifteen joints, the abdomen 

 terminated by a tubular ovipositor, and either ex- 

 ternal, forming a terminal point, or internal and 

 exsertile. The maxillary palpi are generally long 

 and slender. These insects are of minute size, and 

 generally of a black colour, with pale or red legs. 

 They are found in grass and amongst leaves, and 

 generally are very active. From the Chalcididce they 

 differ in having the antennae straight, and the nervures 

 of the anterior wings often more conspicuous, whilst 

 the structure of the abdomen and the ^ovipositor 



distinguishes them from the Cynipidae and Ich- 

 neumonidtE. This family has been recently inves- 

 tigated by Dr. Nees von Esenbeck, as well as by 

 several English authors, by whom many species have 

 been described, and numerous genera established. 

 They are parasitic upon other insects. Some of the 

 species exhibit various remarkable peculiarities. Thus 

 the Platygnster Boscii is furnished with a long curved 

 horn, winch arises at the base of the abdomen, and 

 extends over the thorax as far as the head. The 

 species of Galesus are remarkable for having the 

 mandibles elongated into a kind of beak, and the 

 female Gonatopi are provided with a curious pair of 

 recurved pincers, attached to the fore tarsi, quite 

 unlike any thing to be observed in any other insect. 

 The wings of the Dinpria: are entirely destitute of 

 nerves, and the Mymars (including some of the most 

 minute creatures belonging to the- order, and visible 

 only when creeping upon the window between the 

 eye and the light) are provided with a brush of very 

 long hairs upon the margins of the wings ; whilst the 

 genus Proctotntpes is distinguished by the exserted 

 and conical ovipositor; the antennae thirteen jointed, 

 and straight. 



PROMEROPS (Epiemachus'). A genus of birds 

 belonging to the slender-billed family of Passeres in 

 the arrangement of Cuvier. They have sometimes 

 been confounded with the bee-eaters (Merops) ; but 

 the structure of their feet, the form of their bills, and 

 their modes of feeding, are quite different. The bee- 

 eaters are syndactylic, or have the outer front toe 

 and the middle one of equal length, and united to- 

 gether as far as the last joint, which makes that part 

 of the foot in a great measure the same as one large 

 toe with a cleft point. Promcrops, on the other 

 hand, are anisdactylic, having the middle and outer 

 toes of different lengths, and united only at their 

 bases. In this respect they resemble the nut-hatches, 

 creepers, humming-birds, and hoopoes, to the last of 

 which they have the closest resemblance. Their 

 mode of feeding is different, however, for they live 

 in a great measure upon the nectar of flowers, for the 

 procuring of which their bills and tongues are well 

 adapted. 



The characters may be stated as follows : The 

 bill much longer than the head, slender, and with the 

 gape opening as far backward as the eyes ; the man- 

 dibles very much compressed, sharp in the edges for 

 the whole of their length, the upper one very slightly 

 notched toward the point, exceeding the under one 

 in length, and with the crest on the culmen, which 

 advances between the plumes and the forehead ; the 

 nostrils, at the base of the bill, opening forward, and in 

 part covered by a feathered membrane ; the tarsus of 

 the same length as the middle toe ; the outer toe 

 longer than the inner one, and united to the middle 

 one at its base, and the hind toe furnished with a 

 very strong claw ; the wings are of moderate length, 

 and rounded, the first quill being very short, the 

 next three gradually longer and longer, and the fifth 

 one the longest in the wing. The natural history of 

 these birds is not a little confused, as they have been 

 differently viewed by different writers, and variously 

 mixed up with other genera, with which it does not 

 appear that they have much real connexion either in 

 their geographical distribution or their habits. The 

 most characteristic of them are understood to be 

 natives of Southern Africa and Australia, of the isles 

 which lie between them, and of some of the isles 



