POLYMORPRA SCAPHIDIIDAE SVNTELIIDAE 



229 



iiiiin <j<iri- 



cinum. Britain. A 

 Larva (after Ferris) ; B 

 perfect Insect. 



Fam. 24. Scaphidiidae. Front coxae small, conical ; 



// r/o.sr/// applied to tin 1 after-body ; liind co.cae //w//.s/w.sr, iri,leli/ 

 'ated : (ibdinnen iciih six in' seven visible ventral jilalcx ; 



antennae at the extremity with about five joint* tliat, become 



<irail nalli/ broader. Tarsi five-jointed. This family consists of a 



few beetles that live in fungi, and run with extreme rapidity ; 



they are all small, and usually rare in collections. Some of the 



exotic forms are remarkable for the ex- 

 treme tenuity and fragility of the long 



antennae, which bear fine hairs. The 



number of described species does not at 



present reach 200, but the family is very 



widely distributed. We have three or 



four species in Britain. All we know of 



the larvae is a description of that of 



Scaphisoma agaricinum by Ferris; 1 it is 



like the larva of Staphylinidae, there are 



nine abdominal segments in addition to a 



very short, broad pseudopod, and very short 



cerci. This larva feeds on agarics ; it goes through its development 



in about three weeks ; unlike the adult it is not very active. 

 Fam. 25. Synteliidae. Antennae davicorn, with re/'// large 



dub; Idbium, with hypoglottis .and the parts beyond it, exposed. 



Fi'aiit coxae transverse. Abdomen with Jive visible ventral xcf/ments, 



a ml e ////if or nine dorsal, the based four of which are semi-corneous. 



This family includes only five species ; its clas- 

 sification has given rise to much difference 

 of opinion. We have, after consideration 

 of all its characters, established it as a 

 distinct family 2 allied to Silphidae. The 

 perfect Insects live on the sap running from 

 trees : but nothing else is known of their 

 natural history. Like so many others of 

 the very small families of aberrant Cole- 

 optera, it has a very wide distribution ; 



i" m. iQ9.Syntelia west- Syntelia, being found iii Eastern Asia and 

 "'""'< Mexico. (From Mexico, while the sub-family Spluieri tides 



Biol. Cent,: Amer.) . . -rf 



occurs, as a single species, 111 Europe and 

 North America. The earlier instars are unknown. 



1 Lurves dc Cole'opteres, 1878, p. 11, pi. i. - Biol. Cent): Auicr. Col.ii. pt. i. p. 438. 



