of Buprestidse and Elateridse. 205 



and shaped like a hand. The basal part increases in size with 

 the number of the lingers; in Diacantlms pectinicornis it is 

 divided into two or three lobes, with numerous short fingers. 

 The number of these latter varies very much (in Cardiophorus 

 ruficollis two, Melanotus castanipes three to five, Diacanthus bi- 

 pustulatus five to six, Camjn/lus linearis six to seven, Diacanthus 

 tessellatus ten, Athous subfuscus thirteen, Agriotes aterrimus, 

 lineatus, Limonius cylindricus twenty, Athous niger twenty to 

 thirty). In Lacon murinus the fingers are ramified, with small 

 triangular dilatations in the angles; the gland opens with a 

 short stem in the side of the somewhat swollen and muscular 

 end of the duct. In Throscus, on the contrary, the accessory 

 gland is a simple, thick, but-little-wound tube, inserted at the 

 base of the bursa copulatrix. 



Several Elateridse possess, besides, a pair of very large vaginal 

 glands which have more or less thick walls, are closely united at 

 their bases, and inserted above the oviducts in the receding 

 angle between them and the vagina. This is the case in Dia- 

 canthus sjailandicus (but not in Z), pectinicornis) , in Agriotes ater- 

 rimus, lineatus, obscurus, sputator, and marginatus. 



Many Elateridse possess a peculiar, rather firm, inside more 

 or less chitinized, funnel-shaped seminal groove, reaching from 

 the base of the duct of the accessory gland to the mouth of the 

 oviducts, or, in the cases where the vaginal glands just described 

 occur, to their point of insertion — for instance, Agriotes spu- 

 tator and marginatus, Athous subfuscus, and Campylus linearis. 



Finally, many Elateridse possess a peculiar kind of lubricating 

 glands, of which the yellow oily secretion is destined to facilitate 

 the sliding of the vagina in the muscular tube. In Agriotes 

 aterrimus, obscurus, sputator, and marginatus they are oval, 

 almost reniform ; in Diacanthus tessellatus very long and slender, 

 a little club-shaped toward their extremity. In Melanotus casta- 

 nipes they are long, furnished with a lateral branch, and their 

 end is tortuous; their walls are distinctly observed to be filled 

 with transparent glandular cells placed edgewise ; towards their 

 mouth they are abruptly constricted, and then continue them- 

 selves as two minute tortuous tubes inside the outer membrane 

 of the vagina, form a small dilatation, and finally perforate this 

 membrane so as to discharge their contents in the muscular 

 case of the vagina. The whole glandular tube can be moved by 

 means of striped muscular fibres. 



The ovipositor is a long, thin, chitinous tube, supported by a 

 pair of small lateral flaps, terminating in a small joint covered 

 with short and stiff hairs, which carries the vaginal palpi. 



The male of Lacon murinus possesses a pair of bag- shaped 

 scent-glands, of not inconsiderable dimensions ; they are situ- 



