182 CLAVICORNIA. [Endomychus. 



at base there is a curved impression ; elytra very finely punctured, 

 broadly rounded at apex ; legs black, with tarsi pitchy-red ; abdomen 

 composed of six segments. L. 5-5| mm. 



In fungi, and in or near fungoid growth on or under bark of decaying beech, elm, 

 &c. ; locally common; Sevenoaks, Lewisham, Mickleham, Esher, Westerham, Sheer- 

 ness ; Hainanlt Forest ; Abbey Wood ; Hastings ; Dartmoor, Devon ; Swansea ; 

 Neath ; Salford Priors near Evesham ; Weston-super-Mare ; llipon ; Scarborough ; 

 Northumberland and Durham district ; Scotland, rare, Tweed, Forth, and Tay 

 districts ; it is probably widely distributed from Yorkshire southwards, although 

 apparently very local in many districts. 



EEOTYLIDJE. 



This is a very extensive family, and contains a much larger number of 

 species than the Endomychidse, which in many respects are closely 

 allied to it ; according to the Munich catalogue about eleven hundred 

 species belong to it, comprised in nearly seventy genera, but this number 

 has been since largely increased, through the researches of the Rev. H. S. 

 Gorham and others ; with regard to distribution both this and the suc- 

 ceeding family are very poorly represented in temperate climates, and are 

 chiefly characteristic of tropical countries ; in Europe only five genera are 

 found, comprising about twenty species ; of these, three genera, repre- 

 sented by six species, occur in Britain ; the Southern Temperate Hemi- 

 sphere is more poorly represented in species of both families than the 

 Northern ; Australia, for instance, as far as is at present known, contains 

 only two or three species of Endomychidse and four or five ErotylidaB, 

 whereas New Zealand contains even less Erotylidse and no Endomychidse; 

 in the computation of the total number of species given above the 

 Languriidee, containing several hundred species, are omitted ; these 

 have been, by many authors, included under the Erotylidse ; but must, 

 most probably, be regarded as a separate family ; the following are some 

 of the chief characters of the Erotylidse : antennse 11-jointed, inserted at 

 the sides of the forehead, with the last three or four joints forming a 

 distinct club ; thorax with side margins distinct, anterior coxal cavities 

 closed behind ; * mesosternum moderate, metasternum rather long, ab- 

 domen with five free segments which are about equal in length ; legs 

 moderately long, tarsi usually 4-jointed, sometimes 5-jointed ; the 

 formation of the tarsi, which are at least plainly 4-jointed, will at once 

 separate the Erotylidse from the true Endomychidse, in which the third 

 joint is very small, and concealed between the lobes of the second joint, 

 so that they appear 3-jointed ; the addition of the Mycetseina to the 

 Endomychidas prevents this distinction from being universal, and it 

 might perhaps be the best plan to separate that tribe, as some authors 

 do, as a distinct family Mycetseidae. 



* In the Languriidio the coxal cavities arc opeii behind. 



I 



