M< > r Jell idee ] H E TE ROM E R A . 67 



produced into a strong style at apex ; legs rather slender, posterior tarsi 

 very elongate, often nearly twice as long as the tibia?, which are furnished 

 with long spurs ; this formation, taken together with the apical style, 

 gives to many species the power of leaping; in size, colour, and 

 pubescence the different members of the group are very variable. 

 The family falls naturally into the two following tribes : 



I. Anterior coxae broadly distant at base, intermediate coxae broadly 



distant; pygidium produced into a strong style . MOBDELLINA. 



II. Anterior coxae almost contiguous at base, intermediate coxae 



slightly distant ; pygidiuin not produced into a style A>'ASPiyA. 



MORDELLINA. 



This tribe contains by far the greater majority of the species belonging 

 to the family ; they are, as a rule, larger and stouter than the members of 

 the second tribe, and may at once be known by the styliform process of 

 the pygidium ; the general shape is more or less cuneiform, and the body 

 is convex and arched, the head being inserted very low; the intermediate 

 tibiae have the spurs absent or small, and the posterior tibi* are short, 

 dilated and triangular ; the hind coxae are very large, and the tarsal 

 claws are cleft to the base with the upper portion pectinate; three of the 

 five European genera are represented in Britain ; they may be distin- 

 guished as follows: 



I. Scutellum larger, subrectangular, broadly emarginate at 



apex ; process of abdomeu shorter and more obtuse . . TOMOXIA, Costa. 



II. Scutellum smaller, transversely triangular or semi- 



circular; process of abdomen nearly always longer 



and sharper. 

 i. Antennae obtusely serrate from the fifth joint ; 



episteroa of metasternum elongate-triangular ; eyes 



more finely granulated MORDELLA, L. 



ii. Antennae very obtusely serrate, almost filifonn ; 



episterna of metasteruum elongate-linear ; eyes more 



coarsely granulated MOBDELLISTEXA, Cotta. 



TOMOXIA, Costa. 



This is a small genus containing about half a-clozen species, of which 

 only one occurs in Europe; the remainder have been described from 

 North America and New Caledonia ; they resemble MordeUa, but have 

 the scutellum larger and quadrangular, and the anal style shorter and 

 blunter ; the eyes are large and somewhat hairy, and the antenna3 are 

 slender and rather short, and obtusely serrate from the fifth joint ; the 

 intermediate tibiae have the spurs absent or very minute; our single 

 species bears a strong superficial resemblance in the shape and general 

 appearance to Mordella fasciata, but may be easily known by several of 

 the characters just mentioned. 



The larva and pupa of T. biguttata (lucephula, Costa) are described and figured 

 by Schiodte (xi. pp. 589, 591, t. xv. 12 and 21) ; the larva is cylindrical, about seveu 



