204 8EHRICOBNIA. [Sjihindll*. 



thickly punctured, antenna} sliort ; thorax convex, transverse, very finely 

 punctured, narrowed in front, with sides and base finely margined ; 

 scutellum triangular ; elytra as broad as thorax, with a tul ercle at each 

 shoulder which is usually light-coloured, with rather regular rows of 

 punctures set in hue stria?, interstices very slightly convex and furnished 

 with rows of short whitish hairs ; legs rather slender. L. 2 mm. 



lu powdery fungus on oM fir stumps, and on decaying beech trees; rare; Esher 

 (Power); Cobluun Park (Walker) ; Chatham; Weybridge ; New Forest; Cunuock 

 Chase ( Ulatch) ; Scarborough (L-iwsou). 



The Cissidae, or Cioidae, as they are called by some authors, are in 

 several points closely connected with the Bostrichidae, and may possibly 

 be regarded as a feeble and depauperized form of that family ; they 

 comprise a few genera of small and insignificant insects, which are 

 widely distributed in both tropical and temperate countries, and are 

 found in fungi on old wood, or in decayed wood which is more or less 

 infested with fungoid growth. The following are the chief characters of 

 the family : Forehead prone, head and front of thorax often horned or 

 furnished with lamellae in male, antennae 8-10-jointed, with the last 

 three joints forming a loose club, inserted under the raised margin of 

 the forehead ; thorax margined at sides, more or less cylindrical, anterior 

 coxal cavities narrowly closed behind ; elytra entirely covering abdomen, 

 the latter composed of five segments, of which the first is longer than 

 the following ; tarsi 4-jointed, with joints 1-3 very short, equal, and 

 the last much longer than the remainder taken together ; the general 

 form is short and convex, and the upper surface, as a rule, is rather 

 strongly pubescent. 



The larvae of the Oissid bear some analogy to those of the Ptinidae, but differ in 

 having five ocelli on each side of the head, and in the formation of the last segment 

 of the abdomen, as well as in other points ; the larva and pupa of Cis baled nre well 

 figured by Mt-llie (Monographic de 1'ancien genre Cis, Annales de la Societe Eutomo- 

 logique de France, 2nd Series, vol. vi., plate 10, fig. 6 and 6a) ; the larva is fleshy 

 white, cylindrical, rather curved, somewhat broader in front than behind, with the 

 la-ad round, smaller than the prothorax, and the remaining segments of much thd 

 same character until the last, which is not longer than the preceding, and bears two 

 rather long spines, which are slightly curved towards the buck ; the antennas nre 

 short, 3-jointed, and the legs are moderately long ; the two spines on the last segment 

 seem to be characteristic of all the species of Cis ; the pupa also is furnished with a 

 somewhat similar pair of spines, and is rather strongly contracted towards apex; it 

 does not, however, present any further peculiarities that call for particular notice. 



Out of the five European genera four are found in Britain ; these may 

 be distinguished as follows : 

 I. Antenna? 10-jointed. 



i. Anterior coxsc transverse, round oval ; tibise not (or 



very rarely) dilated at apex ........ Cis, Latr. 



ii. Anterior coxao shorter, more or less conical ; tibiae 

 dilated and denticulate at upex ....... RHOPALODONTUS, Mell. 



