144 Oh North- American Longicornia. 



the Ceranibycidre and the Lamiidoe. Equally erroneous, in 

 my opinion, is the view expressed by Leconte and Horn tiiat 

 the Clytini show an affinity with the Lamiidaj. There is a 

 resemblance between some Clytini and certain genera of 

 Lamiidge, but this is purely the result of convergence of 

 characters and has nothing to do with affinity. The verti- 

 cality of the front of the head, which is so prominent a 

 feature of the Lamiidte, is frequently seen amongst the 

 Cerambycidse, but it will be found in the latter that the 

 insertion of the mandibles differs from that of the Lamiidse 

 in being oblique instead of horizontal. This is readily seen 

 by noting the lower margin of the gena, which is in nearly 

 all cases strongly oblique in the Cerambycidse and forms a 

 more or less acute angle behind the base of the mandible. 



So far as I have been able to discover, there is no existing 

 group of Longicorns that can satisfactorily be regarded as 

 transitional between the Cerambycidse and the Lamiidse. At 

 what point the Lamiidse have emerged, and how exactly 

 related to other Longicorns, are questions still awaiting 

 solution. In this connexion I should like to call attention to 

 the very suggestive characters presented by the North- 

 American genus Atimia, Hald. This genus has a strongly 

 marked Lamiide facies, but, on the other hand, its characters 

 are such that Leconte and Horn unhesitatingly placed it in 

 the Cerambycidse, in juxtaposition with their Lepturoid series 

 of that family. 'J'heir view of its position I find confirmed 

 by an examination of its wing- venation. This is of an 

 essentially Lepturine type, very much resembling that of 

 Oxymirus, Toxolus, and Rhagium. In opposition to the 

 views of my friend Prof. Lameere, I have long been of 

 opinion that amongst existing Longicorns the Lepturinse, 

 especially those of the Toxotus group, come nearest to the 

 ancestral form. That form was probably, though not neces- 

 sarily, provided, like the present-day Prioninaj, with a sharp 

 lateral margin to the prothorax. Such a form would differ 

 but slightly in facies and structural characters from the 

 ancestor of the Chrysomelidse. No genus of the latter family 

 known to me shows any resemblance to Parandray the genus 

 which Prof. Lameere regards as the prototy[)e of the Longi- 

 corns ; but it is only fair to state that Mgsleria and Anoplo- 

 derina^ which he derives almost directly from Parandra^ do 

 somewhat in facies resemble some of the more primitive 

 Chrysomelidse. Mysteria especially has a facies which 

 would agree well with that of my suggested Lepturo-Prionine 

 prototype; but the reduced wing-venation, the fusion of 

 the labrum with the clypeus, and the broad mentum and 



