74 sKiuucoBNiA. [Throacidee. 



which arc hairy and usually emarginate or divided ; antennae inserted 

 on the front, received in grooves beneath, 11 -jointed, sometimes 

 serrate, sometimes as in our single genus, with a serrate 3-jointed 

 club; prosternum with an anterior rounded lobe protecting the mouth, 

 slightly prolonged behind into a flat process received in the meso- 

 sternum, which is short ; elytra completely covering abdomen ; abdomen 

 with five ventral segments ; anterior and middle coxae small, rounded, 

 and not prominent ; posterior coxae dilated internally ; legs short, 

 retractile ; tarsi short, 5-jointed ; the species are slow in their move- 

 ments, and are found by sweeping herbage or flowers, at the roots of 

 grass, in moss, haystack and flood refuse, &c.; they are small and 

 inconspicuous-looking insects, and in some cases are very hard to deter- 

 mine with accuracy. 



According to the Munich catalogue the family contains four genera 

 and more than a hundred species, which are widely distributed both in 

 temperate and tropical climates ; two genera, Drapetes and Throscus, 

 are found in Europe, represented by about a dozen species ; of these, 

 four species, all belonging to the latter genus, occur in Britain. 



TKROSCUS, Latreille. (Trizagus, Kugelann.)* 



This genus contains about one quarter of the species at present known 

 as belonging to the family ; these are chiefly found in Europe and 

 North America ; a few have been recorded from Brazil, Northern India, 

 and the Australian region, but as a rule their place is taken in the 

 tropics by the genus Drapetes; our British species may be divided as 

 follows : 



I. Length exceeding 2 mm. ; colour, as a rule, darker. 



i. Eyes divided until middle; thorax less narrowed in 



front T. DERMESTOIDES, L. 



ii. Eyes divided considerably beyond middle ; thorax 



evidently more narrowed in front, at all event* in the 



male T. CABINIFBON8, Bono. 



II. Length not exceeding 2 mm. ; colour, as a rule, lighter; 



eyes divided considerably beyond middle. 

 t Head with two raised lines ; form longer and less oval; 



antennae longer T. ELATEBOIDES, Heer. 



ii. Head without raised lines ; form shorter and more 



oval ; antennae shorter T. OBTCSUS, Curt. 



T. dermeBtoideB, L. (adstrictor, Panz.). Elongate-oval, more or 

 less narrowed at apex, of a reddish-brown colour, rather thickly 

 clothed with fine silky recumbent greyish pubescence ; head with two 

 feebly raised parallel longitudinal lines, eyes divided to middle; 

 antennae as long as thorax, with a 3-jointed club; thorax broader 



* The name Trixagus, Kugelnnn, has the priority, but, as Erichson has pointed out> 

 it is applied by its author to a genus composed of both Throscus and Bylurus, and 

 therefore must be dropped for both. 



