148 COLEOPTERA 



FAMILY SILPHIDES. 



Mentitm entire or slightly emarginated. Ligula membraneous or 

 coriaceous, generally bilobed, without distinct paraglossfp. Maxilla 

 terminating with two lobes ; the internal often provided with a horny 

 hook. Palpi filiform ; the maxillary with four, the labial with three 

 joints. Antenna with eleven, very rarely with ten joints, the last joints 

 ordinarily forming a club. Anterior coxa conical, very prominent, the 

 posterior transversal ; joints of the tarsi of variable number. Abdomen 

 composed of six segments, all free. 



Group-SILPHIDJE. 



Posterior coxa contiguous. Maxillary palpi not very much longer 

 than the labial. Prothorax not cylindrical ; its sides foliaceous or 

 arcuated. Posterior trochanters prominent. Tarsi almost always five- 

 jointed in both sexes. Metathoracic parapleura not covered by the 

 elytra. 



Camiarus. 



Sharp ; Ent. Mon. Mag., June, 1876. 



Antenna u-articulatae, apice leviter incrassatse, articulo 8 con- 

 tiguis minore. Palpi maxillares articulo ultimo magno, sub-securiformi. 

 Caput parvum, oculi prominuli, liberi. Tibia pubescentes. 



Maxillary /##/ with the second joint elongate and slender, third not 

 half so long as second, fourth much dilated internally so as to be nearly 

 securiform. Head small, not adapted in form to close the front of the 

 thorax, the eyes very convex, almost hemispherical, their hind part free. 

 Mesosternum large, slightly separating the middle coxae, which are much 

 immersed. Hind coxa very nearly contiguous, inwardly broad, but 

 pointed at their outer extremity, their trochanters rather large and 

 adapted to the femora. Hind-body with five visible ventral segments. 



The very anomalous insects for which I make this generic name, I 

 associate with the Catopida, because they agree satisfactorily with those 

 insects in the structure of the prothorax, though in other respects they 

 are very anomalous. In many points they approach the Scydmanida, 

 and will probably ultimately be considered a distinct group, intermediate 

 between the Catopida and Scydmanida. The two species are extremely 

 dissimilar in appearance, and may ultimately be made distinct genera ; 

 but as they possess in common the above prominent characters, I 

 associate them together for the present. 



270. C. thoraciCUS, Sharp; Ent. Mon. Mag., June, 1876. 

 Minus convexus, niger, nitidus elytris hirsutis, antennis pedibusque 

 run's ; thorace transversim sub-cordato, profunde canaliculate, punctis 

 basalibus et lateralibus, paucisque discoidalibus magnis ; elytris striatis, 

 striis fortiter punctatis. 



Long, corp., 3^ mm. 



