112 RHTNCHOPHORA. \P! at y rrliinu* . 



before base is interrupted ; the elytra are oblong, parallel-sided and 

 rather depressed. 



P. latirostris, F. A very large and conspicuous species, oblong, 

 depressed ; rostrum (except apex), head, scutellum, apex of elytra and 

 some indistinct wavy bands on the same, abdomen and part of legs 

 clothed with ashy scale-like pubescence (or as Thomson calls it ' sub- 

 squamose ') ; upper surface dull and rugose, elytra with raised lines ; 

 thorax about as long as broad with sides slightly and evenly rounded and 

 produced into a lobe at about middle and Avith'a raised transverse carina 

 before base; elytra broader at base than thorax, parallel-sided, very broadly 

 and bluntly rounded at apex ; legs moderately long. L. 9-12 mm. 



Male with the abdomen longitudinally impressed in middle, the 

 antennae with joints 3-4 elongate and the eighth subovate. 



Female with the abdomen without impression, and the antennae with 

 joints 3-4 shorter, the eighth being round. 



In fungi (Sphceria) on trees, especially on old beech and ash trees ; rare ; 

 Stephens records it as rare in the London district, but I know of no captures in recent 

 years; not uncommon near Cheltenham (Rye); Salford Priors (Blatch) ; Bristol; 

 Ugbrooke Park near Chudleigh, Devon (Bowling) ; Swansea (occasionally on ash 

 trees) ; Scotland, extremely rare, Tay district (Sharp) ; it probably occurs in inter- 

 vening localities ; Mr. Rye (British Beetles, 1st Ed. p. 179) says " it lives upon 

 Sphceria and other fungi growing on ash trees, &c., burrowing also in the rotten 

 wood, or lurking; under loose bark, and having a particularly comical way of elevating 

 itself by its front legs, though usually of sedate appearance." 



TKOPIDERES, Schonherr. 



This is rather a large genus, containing nearly fifty species, of which 

 about a dozen are found in Europe ; the remainder are very widely 

 distributed, representatives having been described from Cuba (in which 

 island no less than twelve species have occurred), Java, Mauritius, 

 Isle of Bourbon, Calcutta, Ceylon, Tahiti, North America, South 

 Africa, Tasmania, &c. ; they are comparatively small, robust insects, 

 and somewhat resemble Bracltytarsus in general appearance ; they are, 

 however, easily distinguished from the latter genus by the distinct un- 

 interrupted transverse raised keel before base ; the eyes are entire and 

 the antennae comparatively long, attaining at least to the base of the 

 thorax; the anterior coxae are scarcely distant; the first joint of the 

 tarsi is much longer than the second. 



The larvae of T. alblrostris, T. sepicola, and T. niveirostris are described by 

 Perris (Larves des Coleopteres, p. 360-361) : they are thick white grubs with the 

 head reddish and the legs somewhat developed, but do not call for any particular 

 remark ; they burrow into the dead branches of oak, hornbeam, poplar, &c. 



The three British species are extremely rare, and are represented in 

 very few collections ; they may be distinguished as follows : 



I. Thorax without tufts of raised hairs on disc. 



i. Thorax plainly bifoveolate on disc ; rostrum larger 



and more dilated at apex T. ALBIBOSTBIS, Herbst. 



