THE CARNIVOROUS GROUND-BEETLES. 



307 



MORMOLYCE PHYLLODES. 



of which it is composed and the number of isolated forms it contains. One of these latter, the last 



we shall notice, is the Mormolyce phyllodes, which has no near allies (except two or three other species 



of the same genus) in the whole family, and looks 



like a monstrosity. It is found only in the Malayan 



Peninsula and the neighbouring large islands. It will 



be noticed, on examining our figure of this insect, 



that its anomalous form is chiefly due to the great 



expansion of the side borders of the wing-cases, and 



their prolongation in a curve beyond the ordinary 



termination of these members. Count Castelnau, 



who observed the habits of this extraordinary Beetle 



in its native forests, and who discovered two new 



species of the genus, says that it is found clinging to 



the under surface, close to the ground, of trunks of 



the largest trees, when these have been uprooted by 



storms, and that he never detected it under the bark, 



although its very flattened and expanded form seems 



to adapt it for such a habit. It probably preys on 



the larvae and pupa of insects infesting the boleti, & 



with which damp bark is generally covered. 



The second division of Carabidae, or that in 



which the hindmost plates of the middle thorax do 



not reach the sockets of the liaunches of the second 



pair of legs, is much more numerous in genera and 



species than the first division, but it is at the same 



time less diversified in its essential structural char- 

 acters. It may be remarked also that its sub-families 



and genera are less strongly differentiated from each other, a phenomenon 

 which can only be explained by assuming that there has been less extinc- 

 tion of intermediate forms, and that the type is posterior to the type of the 

 first division in time and in grade of evolution. This assumption is con- 

 firmed by the study of other peculiarities in their organisation already 

 noticed, namely, the notched anterior shanks and the fewer number of 

 finely pubescent or sensitive basal joints of the antennse, special features 

 which do not re-appear in any other group of the Adephaga. 



The male insects in this division are distinguished (as they are also 

 in most genera of the preceding) by the feet of the anterior pair of legs 

 being dilated, and the under surface of the expanded joints being furnished 

 with a pad of short hairs or scales. The function of these dilated palms is 

 to secure the hold on the female at the time of pairing, additional grasping 

 or adhesive power being rendered necessary by the prevailing polished 

 surface of the integument in this family of insects. They have been 

 \ likened to hands, and Latreille, in drawing up his natural classification 

 of the group, named the subordinate sections Patellimani, Quadrimani, 

 Simplicimani, according to the shape and number of the " hands," and the 

 clothing of the palms, some groups having one and others two pairs of 

 dilated feet, and some having palms clothed with a smooth flat brush 

 of hairs, whilst in others the hairs are replaced by ragged cartilaginous 

 scales generally arranged in rows. These peculiarities form very constant 

 characters, and are of great value in the classification of the family. It 

 may be remarked that whenever the males have dilated feet in the first 



division (e.g., in the Tiger-beetles), the palms are clothed with a plane brush of hairs; the modification 



into scales appears first in the second division, and in the most specialised forms. 



TEFFLUS MEGEELEI. 



