296 RHTNCHOPHORA. [Tychiina. 



ment to the base of the fourth ; the antennae ar.) citlier 10- or 11-jointed 

 and arc inserted in front of the middle of the rostrum ; the anterior 

 coxae are contiguous and the prosternum is not ernarginate at apex ; the 

 thorax is constricted before apex and rounded and dilated at the sides ; 

 the scutelluin is distinct ; the pygidium is exposed, at all events in the 

 male ; the legs are comparatively short and stout ; the species are small 

 squamose insects, which are in many cases very prettily variegated ; they 

 are found on low plants ; the larvae live in the pods or heads of their 

 food-plant, and in many cases construct galls; they undergo their 

 changes in the earth. 



The three genera may be distinguished as follows : 



I. Elytra subrectangular at apex of suture, jointly 



rounded, and usually covering pygidium, at all events 

 in female. 



i. Funiculus of antenna; seven-jointed TYCHIUS, Germ. 



ii. Fuuiculus of antennae six-jointed MICCOTROGUS, Schonh. 



II. Elytra separately rounded at apex, leaving the 

 pygidium, at all events in part, exposed; funiculus of 



antennae consisting of six joints SIBINIA, Schonh. 



TYCHIUS, Germar. 



This is a large and important genus containing nearly a hundred 

 species from Europe alone; it is also widely distributed in various 

 quarters of the world, representatives occurring in Northern and Southern 

 Africa, Northern and Central Asia, North and South America, Cuba, &c. ; 

 the species are small and for the most part uniformly coloured grey or 

 yellowish-grey insects; a certain amount, however, are very prettily banded 

 and marked ; they are found entirely upon species of Papilionacecv ; the 

 larvae develop themselves in a gall in the pods or capsules of their food 

 plants, but they undergo their transformations underground ; the sexual 

 differences are not very striking, but the males may be distinguished from 

 the females by having the abdomen depressed at base, the rostrum pro- 

 portionately shorter, and their pygidium more projecting; in a few 

 instances there are other slight characters in the male, such as a small 

 tooth on the internal border of the anterior tibiae, &c. ; eleven species are 

 found in Britain ; of these the first two are comparatively large and are 

 very pretty and conspicuous insects ; the remainder, however, are small 

 and with one or two exceptions, very much alike and hard to distinguish 

 without careful comparison ; the last of them, T. pygmceus, Bris., is 

 chiefly known by its minute size ; it is, in fact, one of the smallest of 

 all our indigenous Khynchophora. 



I. Posterior femora with a very strong tooth; elytra 

 with the suture white, and with two broad white 

 lateral bands, which are interrupted in the middle 



iid form four patches T. QUINQUEPUNCTATTTS, L. 



II. Posterior femora with a much smaller tooth or quite 

 simple ; elytra without or with uninterrupted bands 

 at sides. 



