THE CE11AMSI-C1D.E. 345 



is divisible into three sub-families, founded on structural characters, which, though not very sharply 

 denned, form assemblages of genera agreeing in general appearance. 



The first, or the Prioninas, are distinguished by the pronotum, or dorsal surface of the prothorax, 

 being separated from the flanks by a sharp edge, and also by the haunches of the anterior pair of 

 legs being elongate and transverse, and lying in similar transverse sockets. The eyes are very 

 generally entire, that is, not notched in front, to make room for the play of the basal joint of the 

 antennae ; but this character is exhibited by many members of the next sub-family. Most of the 

 large and bulky Longicorns with short antennae belong to the Prionince. A large number are 

 nocturnal in their habits, arid are rarely seen except when flying abroad on sultry evenings, or 

 when the tree-trunks containing them are cleft by the axe of the wood-cutter. These are characterised 

 by the coarseness of the facets into which their eyes are divided, a feature which seems to be associated 

 in some groups of Coleoptera with nocturnal vision. The few species of the sub-family inhabiting north 

 temperate climates belong to this division, such as those constituting the genus Prionus, one of which 

 (P. coriarius) is found not uncommonly in the southern counties of England, flying abroad in the 

 summer evenings, or seen imbibing the sap from the trunks of old oak-trees in parks. A series of 

 magnificent species of glittering metallic colours, constituting the genus Psalidognathus, inhabits, 

 exclusively the valleys of the Andes, from South Peru to the Isthmus of Panama. Like several 

 other tropical genera, these are furnished, especially in the male sex, with long toothed mandibles,, 

 and present a certain resemblance to the true Stag-beetles, from which, however, they are readily 

 distinguished by their four-jointed tarsi. Acanthoj)hortis serraticornis, one of these forms, of very 

 large size, is an inhabitant of Southern India. The most wonderful insect of this group, however, is 

 Colpoderus forcipatus, a species discovered by Dr. Pogge in the country of the Muata Yanvo 

 in Central Africa, which is armed with mandibles of excessive length, bent at the middle at a right 

 angle, and each blade strongly forked at the tip. Another section of Prionince have eyes divided into 

 fine facets, and these are diurnal in their habits. Most of them inhabit tropical America, and are of 

 varied and often metallic coloration. The genus Mallasjns, belonging to this section, presents curious 

 modifications in the form of the antennae, some of the joints being flattened into thin plates and 

 having a metallic lustre. 



The second sub-family, called Cerambycince, differ from the Prionince in the contraction of the 

 sockets of the anterior haunches, the latter being either rounded, or conical and projecting from the 

 .sockets, and in the flanks of the prothorax being continuous with the dorsal surface or pronotum. 

 Like the preceding sub-family, they form two natural groups, one nocturnal, with coarsely faceted eyes, 

 and one diurnal, with the same organs smooth and minutely divided. The nocturnal series are 

 usually of dull brown or blackish colours, but the day-fliers are of bright hues, very often brilliantly 

 metallic, and endlessly diversified in the markings with which they are variegated. The variety of 

 colours and patterns is not irregular or capricious, but observes a sort of law, a genus or group of 

 genera having one common type, which is modified, often in a most elegant and artistic manner, in 

 each species. Such is the numerous genus Clytus, slender AY asp-like Longicorns, of which there are 

 several species in England, found on flowers and newly-felled timber. Such also are the Lepturce, a 

 group distinguished by the head being constricted behind into a neck, the species of which, inhabiting 

 chiefly temperate or even high northern latitudes and Alpine regions, are found on flowers. A large 

 proportion of the native British Longicorns belongs to the Leptura group, and many may be met with 

 on umbelliferous and composite flowers and wild roses in early summer. Leptura aurulenta and 

 qnadrifasciata, found in the New Forest, are elegant insects of silky dark brown hue, with bands of 

 golden-yellow on the wing-covers. 



Amid the great diversity of forms for which this group of Cerambycidae is remarkable are the 

 genera which mimic Bees, Wasps, and other Hymenoptera. They chiefly frequent tropical America 

 and Australia, and are found on flowers, or flying about tree-trunks, in the same situations as the 

 insects whose forms and colours they have unconsciously been brought to assume, by way of disguise 

 and protection. As a rule, their wing-covers are much shortened, sometimes becoming mere square 

 plates, covering the base of the abdomen, as in the Staphylinidse : this, apparently, in order to leave 

 the membranous wings exposed, and give them freer play. In some of the species, as Sphecomorpka 

 cJtalybea, Odontocera fasciata, Tomcpterus larroides, and others, the abdomen at the base is constricted 

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