166 SFRRICORXIA. [Cleridw. 



considerably increased since the time at which the catalogue was pub- 

 lished, and the Rev. H. S. Gorham, who has done so much work at the 

 group, informs me that the family now contains about one thousand 

 species ; these are of very general distribution, but by far the majority 

 are found in tropical countries ; only thirteen genera, represented by 

 fifty species, are found in Europe, of which six genera and only eleven 

 species occur in Britain. 



The Cleridae, taken as a whole, are a very striking family, many of 

 them being exceedingly beautiful both as regards colour and form ; the 

 body is elongate, with the thorax narrower than the elytra, and is often 

 strongly pilose ; the head is prominent with the eyes very often emar- 

 ginate, and the antennae are usually 11-jointed, and are either subfiliform, 

 serrate, pectinate, or distinctly clavate (as in Corynetes), in the latter 

 case forming a distinct transition between the Serricom and Clavicorn 

 groups ; in most of the species, however, the terminal joints have a 

 tendency to form a club ; the prosternum is short, and the anterior coxal 

 cavities are open behind ; the elytra, in nearly all cases, completely 

 cover the abdomen, which is composed of either five or six ventral 

 segments ; the legs are more or less elongate, and the tarsi are 5-jointed, 

 the first joint in some genera being covered by the second, and the 

 fourth joint in others being exceedingly small and indistinct ; the joints 

 of the tarsi, with the exception of the last, are either altogether or in 

 part furnished with membranous appendages beneath, and the claws are 

 simple or toothed ; through their pilose body and lobed tarsi the 

 members of the family bear a close relation to the Melyridae. 



In the perfect state the Cleridae are found on plants or on the trunks 

 of trees, while a few live in dead animal matter ; in the larval state they 

 are carnivorous, and prey upon various larvae, some of them being found 

 in bees' nests, where they commit great havoc among the grubs ; the 

 colour of the larvae as a rule is bright red or brownish, but some have the 

 upper surface pink, or yellowish-white spotted with pink ; their surface 

 is rather thickly covered with hairs ; the head is corneous ; the antennae 

 are inserted just above the articulation of the mandibles, and are made 

 up of two short joints ; there are five ocelli on each side ; the pro- 

 thorax has an entire scutum, but those of the meso- and metathorax are 

 divided by a longitudinal line ; the abdominal segments are fleshy, 

 except the last, which bears a corneous scutum above armed with two 

 projecting points, and a short anal appendage which is used for 

 progression. 



Mr. Gorham, in the Biologia Centrali-Americana, divides the family 

 into six sub-families, Tillides, derides, Phyllobenidcs, Hydnocerides, 

 Enopliides, and Corynetides ; three only of these are represented in 

 our fauna, and it will perhaps be more convenient to regard them aa 

 tribes ; they may be distinguished as follows : 



I. Tarsi plainly 6-jointed, with the first joint distinctly visible 

 from above .... . TILLINA. 



