8 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on new Genera and Species of 



Legs moderate ; femora thickened in the middle ; tibige gra- 

 dually stouter towards the apex ; tarsi lengthened, slender, 

 the claw-joint moderate. The under parts nearly as in the 

 preceding genus, but the anterior cotyloid cavities very close 

 to the posterior border of the propectus, the mesosternum 

 and metasternum a little longer, the interfemoral process very 

 considerably broader, and the ventral segments gradually de- 

 creasing in length to the fourth. 



The position of Hymcea and Melytra is somewhat doubtful. 

 From the characters of the '''' Apocrypliides^^ as given by M. 

 Lacordaire*, they seem to me to belong to them. Mr. F. Bates, 

 who has made the Heteromera his especial study, inclines to 

 the opinion [in lilt.) that, from the narrow antennary ridges, 

 they are more nearly related to the Strongyliince^ and that they 

 form a distinct subfamily. In the ^ Genera,' the '"'' Apocry- 

 jjhides^^ are classed among the '^ Helojndes^^^ an arrangement 

 to which Dr. Lecontef objects, because of the absence of the 

 membranous margin of the third and fourth abdominal seg- 

 ments, -^ which is so evident in Helopini and all the allied 

 tribes.'^ He admits, however, that '' the observation of such 

 characters as are relied on for the classification of this family 

 is sometimes very difficult in small species, unless specimens 

 may be submitted for dissection." Hynuea^ as it appears to 

 me, has entirely corneous ventral segments, while Melytra has 

 the third and fourth segments membranous posteriorly. Both 

 have the mentum without a pedicel, and the base of the maxillae 

 and lower lip exposed. There are trochantins J, I think, in 

 both. At any rate, their intermediate cotyloid cavities are 

 angulated externally. M. Lacordaire ascribes trochantins to 

 Aj)ocrypha^ although he says it is difficult to decide if they really 

 exist. Dr. Leconte refuses them without any doubt. With 

 regard to the antennary ridges, it sometimes happens that the 

 difference between the continuous ridge (Platygene) and the 

 narrowed and more limited ridge (Otidogene) is one of degree, 

 leaving it doubtful to which category they belong. Dr. Leconte 

 places his two North- American ^' tribes " Meracanthinae and 

 Strongyliinse (both otidogenous) in his ^' subfamily Tenebrio- 

 nidge (genuini) " together with Blaptina3, Boletophagin^e, Helo- 

 pina3, and many others, all platygenous — an arrangement very 



* Genera, S^c. v. p. 432. _ t Classif. Col. North Am. p. 218. 



t The trochantin is a small piece attached to the outer edge of the 

 coxa ; in the Tenebrionidae, when it is present, it is confined to the 

 intermediate pair, and it is generally, if not invariably, correlated with a 

 cotyloid cavity having a very pronounced angle over the spot where it 

 occurs. I have given a diagram of the coxa with a trochantin attached 

 on PI. X. fig. 9. 



