198 Prof, J. C. Schiodte on the Classification 



enormous strength, with colossal socket and condyle; at the 

 base they are so much extended both upwards and downwards 

 that they appear as if they carried horns when seen from the 

 back ; their inner margin is destitute of fringe, excavated like a 

 spoon, and the point sometimes whole, sometimes divided into 

 several powerful and sharp teeth. The two other pairs of buccal 

 organs are extremely small. The palpiferous stalk of the maxillae 

 is shaped like a joint, and stands out from the stipes ; there is 

 only one lobe, which is small, with thin skin and fine hair. The 

 mentum is very small and thin ; stipites palporum labialium not 

 separate ; lingua small, short, obtuse, undivided. The terminal 

 joint of the palpi is very large, oviform. 



It is a matter of course that both in Buprestidse and Elateri^ae 

 the mouth is turned more downwards, in proportion as the 

 beetle has more to do with wood, on account of the habits of the 

 larva. The fore legs being, in both families, weak, with globular 

 coxae, the prothorax is naturally short, unless the clicking-appa- 

 ratus be strongly developed, in which case also the organs of the 

 mouth are larger, more protruding, and calculated for eating 

 pollen. These, then, require protection during the work in 

 earth, moss, and decaying wood, where the eggs are to be placed 

 &c., which protection is afforded by a peculiar prolongation of 

 the prosternum, a "chin-lobe^' {mentonniere), by means of 

 which the beetle can hide the organs of its mouth when the head 

 is not protruded. Such a chin-lobe is therefore found in all 

 Elaterini ; but it is of varying size, more or less distinctly marked 

 by a transverse groove, more or less turned downwards, accord- 

 ing to the degree in which the dicker-type is developed in the 

 species. When authors deny (as Lacordaire does in Gen. des 

 Coleopt.iv.p.224) thatsuch genera as Camptjlus and Cebrio possess 

 this chin-lobe, and find one of their essential characters in this 

 defect, this must arise from their not having sufficiently 

 investigated the character of that organ, so that they are unable 

 to recognize it when it is somewhat different in appearance from 

 its most general form. For it must always be kept in view that 

 this chin-lobe is merely a prolongation of the prosternum 

 alone, which is indicated by its being separated, be it ever so 

 short, from the epimeron on either side by a small sharp notch. 

 Thus understood, the chin-lobe becomes one of the most es- 

 sential characters of the group of Elaterini. 



VIII. 



On a former occasion I gave an account of the internal 

 anatomy of Buprestidse*, and I shall here offer a corresponding 



* Oversigt over det Kongelige Danske Videnskabers Selskabs Forhand- 

 linger (Transactions of the Royal Danish Society of Sciences), 1847, no. 3. 

 pp. 24-35. 



