104 RHTKCHOPHORA. 



in scrobe rostrali insertus) ; scape Usually elongate, nearly always 

 (siepissime) inserted in a channel or scrobe at the sides of rostrum " 

 (vol. i. p. 7) ; the latter definition, however, is not very satisfactory, and 

 its wording is somewhat contradictory. 



In the " Skandinaviens-Coleoptera," vol. x. p. 147 (1S68), Thomson 

 divides the group Rhynchophori into eight families, which he places- 

 tinder two "stirpes"; Stirps I. contains the Brtusbide, Anthribidae, 

 Bhinomaceridse, and Attelabidse, arid is characterized as having " the 

 abdomen with the ventral segments immoveable, the second being about 

 equal to the third, and the pygidium nearly always exposed ; antenna? 

 straight, 11-jointed; posterior coxae contiguous or not widely distant ; 

 tarsal claws usually bifid "; the remaining families, forming Stirps II., 

 are the Apionidse, Curculionidse, Cossonidse, and Tomicidae, which are 

 defined as having "the abdomen with the three last ventral segments 

 moveable, and the two first connate, the second nearly always much 

 longer than the third ; antennae nearly always broken and clavate ; pos- 

 terior femora usually far exceeding the margin of the elytra" 



In 1876 Dr. Leconte and Dr. Horn published their well-known 

 work on " The Ehynchophora of America North of Mexico," which had 

 been preceded by smaller works on the same subject (1874-1875) ; in 

 these publications they endeavour to prove that the Ehynchophora are 

 the most archaic forms of the order Coleoptera, that they are isolated 

 from all the other forms, and that they are " restricted to a more uni- 

 form type of organization than is exhibited in the normal Coleoptera ; but 

 at the same time being represented by an immense number of species 

 the generic modifications are very varied " (1. c. p. vii.); taking all these 

 circumstances into consideration, these authors hold that the proper 

 place for the section is at the end of the order, and in this I quite agree 

 with them, and have adopted for them this position ; as, however, Dr. 

 Leconte observes (1. c. p. ix.) they were not the first to propose this 

 alteration, which was first put forward by Lorenz Oken (Elements of 

 Physiophilosophy, translated by Alfred Tulk, London, Ray Society, 

 1847). Leconte and Horn define the Rhynchophorous Coleoptera as 

 " those in which the posterior lateral elements of the head and pro thorax 

 coalesce on the median line of the under surface of the body, so as to 

 unite by a single suture "; in this definition they are followed by Bedel, 

 whose work " Faune des Coleopteres du Bassin de la Seine, Tome vi. 

 Rhynchophora (1888)" will be often alluded to during the remainder 

 of the present volume ; Dr. Sharp, however, has recently pointed out 

 (Trans. Ent. Soc. London, 189, Part I. pp. 42* and 47) that this defini- 

 tion does not hold good, at all events as far as the prosternum is con- 

 cerned, for in the Attelabidae the apices of the epimera are widely sepa- 

 rated by a piece which he calls the centro-sternal piece, and in the Rhyn- 

 chitida3 this centro-sternal piece, although small, is in many cases present. 



* On page 42, line 7, there is an unfortunate erratum, "absent" being printed 

 for "apparently absent." 



