276 CLAVICORNIA. [Ldtltridiidce. 



hairs ; they arc composed of twelve segments, of which the thoracic segments are 

 larger than the rest, and terminate in a short anal appendage which serves to facilitate 

 progression ; the antennae and legs are short ; the larvae and pupae of Lathridiua 

 minutus and Corlicaria pubescens are described and figured by Ferris (Ann. Fr., 1852, 

 p. 574, 581, Plate xiv.) ; the larvae closely resemble one another, but the pubescence 

 is much shorter in the latter ; the pupa of Lathridius minutus is very peculiar 

 by reason of the shape of the hairs with which it is clothed, which are abruptly 

 clavate at apex and pin-shaped ; the larvae probably feed on cryptogamic substances, 

 the excrement and skin of various insects, &c. 



I. Anterior coxae more or less separated by the prosternum (or 

 where the prosternum is interrupted between the coxae,* with 



the club of antennae consisting of only two joints). 



i. Forehead even, without sculpture, or at most finely punc- 

 tured ; clypeus situated on the same level with the forehead, 

 from which it is separated by a simple stria MEEOPHTSINA. 



ii. Forehead uneven, more or less strongly and rugosely sculp- 

 tured, often channelled in the middle ; clypeus separated 

 from the forehead by a transverse depression, and usually 

 situated on a lower level LATHEIDIINA. 



II. Anterior coxae contiguous ; club of antennas composed of three 



or four joints CORTICABINA. 



MEROPHYSINA. 



This tribe contains several genera, of which two only, Holoparamecus 

 and Anommatus, are represented in our fauna ; from the Corticarina they 

 are distinguished by having the anterior coxae separated by the pro- 

 sternum, and from the Lathridiina by the sculpture and form of the head 

 which is almost smooth, and has the clypeus level with the forehead, 

 and only separated from it by a simple suture ; our two genera may be 

 separated as follows : 



I. Eyes distinct ; elytra oval without stria) or at most 



with a sutural stria HoLOPAEAMECUS, Curtis. 



II. Eyes wanting; elytra parallel-sided with rows of 



strong punctures ; form linear, subcylindrical . . ANOMSTATTTS, Wesma'd. 



HOLOFARAMECUS, Curtis. 



This genus contains some twenty-five or thirty species, which are 

 found in various parts of the world, both in tropical and temperate 

 regions ; there is, however, considerable question as to the distinctness 

 of some of them, and several appear to have been described under 

 different names," as is perhaps natural, seeing that they occur very often 

 in flour, and therefore, like so many of the corn and flour beetles, become 

 gradually cosmopolitan. Up to January, 1883, it was supposed that we 

 only possessed one species as British out of the eight or nine European 

 species, but in the Entomologist for that month (page 2) Mr. Sidney 

 Olliff described two more as indigenous, viz. H. swgularis which he 



* This is to a certain extent the case with the genus Cartodere. 



