BEETLES. 27 



which are exotic; they are remarkable for their long projecting 

 jaws, and are generally found under the bark of dead trees. 

 Leptochirus Javanicus, Cast., is black, often with reddish thorax and 

 legs, and measures about half an inch in length. 



FAMILY II. Pselaphidce. 



Antennae short and thick ; elytra nearly half the length of the 

 abdomen ; tarsi generally three-jointed ; abdomen not freely 

 moveable. 



This family is not extensive, and the species are not of large 

 size ; but they differ considerably in structure, especially in that 

 of the antennae. Chennium Bituberculatum, Latr., is about one- 

 eighth of an inch long, and of a reddish chestnut colour ; it is 

 found in various parts of Southern and Western Europe in the 

 nests of Myrmica Ccespitum; its antennae are clothed with long 

 bristles ; in Faronus Lafertei, Aube", a chestnut-coloured insect, 

 less than one-twelfth of an inch in length, and a great rarity in 

 France, the antennae are quite naked. In the typical genus 

 Pselaphus, Herbst, the last joint of the antennae is of considerable 

 size, but this character perhaps reaches its maximum in the genus 

 Trimium, Aub6. T. Brevicorne, Erichs., is a shining reddish- 

 brown beetle, with yellowish legs, and measuring less than the 

 twelfth of an inch in length ; it is found in vegetable refuse. The 

 genus Claviger includes a few reddish- or yellowish- brown 

 species, not more than one-tenth or one-twelfth of an inch in 

 length. Their heads are long and narrow, their eyes are absent, 

 and their wings rudimentary. They are found in the nests of 

 Formica Flava, or under stones in the immediate neighbourhood. 



We have still to notice two very singular foreign genera of 

 this family. Metopias Curculionoides, Gory, is a red, velvety-looking 

 species from Cayenne, which is the type of a small South 

 American genus. The head is furnished with a broad transverse 

 projection, on which the very long and bristly antennae, with a 

 very long basal joint, are placed, and the legs are also covered 

 with bristles. It is one of the largest of the Pselaphidce, 

 measuring one-eighth of an inch in length. 



Articerus, Dalm., an Australian genus, much resembles Claviger 

 in shape, but has prominent eyes, and the antennae are composed 

 of a single joint only. The typical species, A. Armatus, Dalm., is 

 of a rusty red colour, and was found in gum copal. 



Although the short elytra lead authors to include the Pselaphidce 



