STRUCTURE OF THE MALACODERMES. 321 



may be represented either by Lytta Fab., or Meloe. 

 These insects differ most materially from the former; 

 the thorax, instead of being large, dilated, and flattened, 

 is small, very narrow, and convex ; while the head is 

 broader than the thorax, large, cordiform, and bent 

 considerably downwards ; it is so much exserted, or de- 

 tached from the thorax, that the neck is seen externally : 

 the tarsi are unlike all other insects out of this tribe ; 

 they are rather compressed than depressed, and are so 

 nearly of the same thickness, that their slightly cu- 

 neated shape is not at first perceived; such, at least, is 

 the case with Meloe, Mylabris, and certain forms more 

 allied to the typical Cantharidce ; but in others, these 

 parts are considerably modified : in Lytta, for instance, 

 they are much more lengthened, often very slender, and 

 the claws on the joint appear as if double. The great 

 enlargement of the head, in comparison to the thorax, 

 appears to us the most prevalent character running 

 through this family, and is more especially developed 

 in Horia. 



(288.) We have seen that, in Meloe, the elytra are 

 more abbreviated than in any other group yet noticed; but 

 in some of the Lymexylonid(Z y \he$e organs are generally re- 

 duced so much as merely to resemble a small scale, almost 

 precisely like those of many of the Staphylinidce. Like 

 them, also, they have the thorax square, and the body 

 greatly depressed, particularly seen in the individuals 

 of the genus Atractocerus. Many of these singular 

 forms so much resemble the Cantliaridce, that Linnaeus 

 included them in that and the genus Meloe. Upon 

 these grounds, we consider the Lymexylomda as forming 

 a distinct family, which, by means of the Pselaphi and 

 the StaphylinidcB, connect the two extremes of the entire 

 order of Coleoptera, and unite the five tribes into one 

 great circle. 



(289-) The two remaining groups, which appear to 

 form aberrant families in this tribe, are represented by 

 the genera Mordella, and either Lycus or Clerus : the 

 former appears to us to be almost certain ; but, as we 



Y 



