Hylecoetwt.'] SERRIOORNIA. 1 "7 



Gaboon region ; they are elongate subcylindrical insects, with the palpi 

 of the male very strongly flabellate, and the antennae of the female 

 strongly serrate or pectinate ; the abdomen is composed of six (according 

 to some authors seven) ventral segments, and the tarsi are elongate, 

 longer than the tibiae, which latter, with the exception of the anterior 

 pair, are armed with a sharp tooth or spine at apex; our single species 

 is found in oak, fir, and birch, and varies very ranch in size ; Mr. 

 Matthews has observed that out of a large number taken from one tree, 

 those which were found in the trunk or larger branches were very much 

 larger than those found higher up the tree in the smaller branches or 

 twigs, these latter appearing to have adapted themselves to a scantier 

 diet, and so to have become depauperized. 



B. dermestoides, L. ( g proboscideus, F.). Elongate, subcylin- 

 drical, clothed with yellowish pubescence ; head large, coarsely punc- 

 tured, eyes moderately prominent, antennae feebly serrate in male, 

 strongly serrate or pectinate in female ; thorax transverse, coarsely and 

 not closely punctured, with traces of a central furrow or depression, 

 posterior angles obtuse ; scutellum quadrangular, with a raised keel in 

 front; elytra very finely and closely sculptured, with more or less dis- 

 tinct traces of raised lines; legs slender. L. 6-15 mm. 



Male shorter and narrower, black, with the elytra testaceous, more or 

 less black tows v ds apex, sometimes entirely black ; legs testaceous, 

 sometimes slightly infuscate, maxillary palpi strongly flabellate. 



Female longer and broader, with the thorax more transverse and 

 more rounded at sides, entirely testaceous or reddish-testaceous with the 

 eyes and breast black ; maxillary palpi not flabellate, antennae strongly 

 serrate. 



In oak, fir, and birch ; very local ; Sherwood Forest, locally common ; Cannock 

 Chase ; Stretford, near Manchester ; Scotland, Highlands, rare, in stumps of Scotch 

 fir ; Tay district. 



ZiXMEXirXiON, Fabricius. 



This genus in many respects resembles the preceding, especially as 

 regards the flabellate maxillary palpi of the male, but the males and 

 females differ much less than in Hylecoetus, and both sexes have the 

 antennae subfiliform and considerably longer ; the thorax, moreover, is 

 longer than broad, and the abdomen has one ventral segment less ; the 

 scutellum has no carina in front ; the anterior tarsi, also, are consider- 

 ably shorter, being plainly shorter than the tibiae ; the genus contains 

 three species, one from Europe, one from North America, and a third 

 from Tasmania. 



L. navale appears to be very common in oak forests in the north of 

 Europe, and is said to do considerable damage in the dockyards of 

 Sweden ; Linne", we are told, was commissioned by the King of Sweden 

 to inquire into the question of the injury done by this insect to ship 



VOL. IV. N 



