78 



iiiciituiii with the hoad-siirfaeo so that a short gular peduncle 

 exits. This i> a izreat jxriiliarity in the Otiorbynchidae, where 

 it is the rnh' that the niaxilhie are quite or nearly covered by 

 the iiiciituin. this jxiint of structure being in fact that on which 

 I.a('(>r(hiir(' founded his Legion Adelognathi, so that the condi- 

 tion we find in Eliyncof/onns would suggest its removal from 

 the Otiorhynchidae, and that it should find a place in tlir; 

 Phanerogiiathi, among the host of forms of wbicb legion there 

 is so far as T know nothing at all allied to Bhyncof/o'iui.^. 



The Phanerognathous condition of the mouth is mosi eom- 

 ])letely displayed by Rhyncogonus lioehelei. but it exists in .^U 

 the other species of B]iyncogo)iiis: I have been able to see. 

 though to a less conspicuous extent. 



Some of the Celeuthetides have the month not completely 

 Adelognathus (e. g. Elytrurus), and it is probably to these 

 that FJnjncogomis is nearest, but the C'eleuthetides have also the 

 coi'hcls iiioi'c or less mo<lified whereas they are quite simple in 

 the Hawaiian genus. The Celeuthetides are specially cliarac- 

 teristic of the I'olynesian area, and we shall n(it be far wrong 

 I believe if we consider that Rhyncogonus is a Celenthetid 

 form, with more simple (or primitive) conditions of the mouth 

 and tibiae. 



XOTKS <tX S():\IK SPECIES AXD THE MALE CHAEACTERS. 



The material for an exhaustive study of RJiyncogoinis is 

 at ])reseut far too small for any attempt at a revision — much 

 less a monograph — of the genus, but I hope the following notes 

 based on some specimens from the collections of Dr. Perkins 

 an<l Mr. (Jiffard may prove useful. 



Rhyncogonus blackburni Sharp. 



'i'his species as it stands at present is very variable, and 

 it is ])ossible that there may be more than one standing mider 

 th( name. I have examined to a slight extent the male geni- 

 talia of a few specimens, and T find difference.-i among them, 

 l)ut so -light that importance cannot be attached to them unless 



