COLEOPTERA. 517 



the thorax nearly orbicular, and the spurs of the tibiae of ordinary size. The species are found in Europe, the 

 equatorial parts of the New World, India, and Australia. [The type, Silpha littoralis, Fabr., is a very common 

 English insect.] 



Others of this subdiWsion have the body oval or ovoid, with the head not, or scarcely, narrowed behind, and 

 narrower than the thorax, which is nearly semicircular ; the elytra are rounded, or slightly emarginate at the tip! 

 the legs scarcely differ in the sexes, and the maxillae have an inner horny tooth. 



Silpha, Linn., has thebody nearly shield-shaped, depressed, with the thorax semicircular and the palpi filiform. Tlie 

 majority reside in [and feed upon] carcases, and thus diminish the quantity of obnoxious vapour which they emit. 

 Some creep upon the stems of plants, especially of corn on which small Snails have crawled, in order to devour 

 these animals ; others mount high trees to feed on Caterpillars. Their larvae are equally active, live in the same 

 manner, and are often found collected in great numbers. They bear much resemblance to the perfect insect ; the 

 body is depressed, composed of twelve segments, with the posterior angles acute, the extremity of the body being 

 narrowed, and terminated by two conical apppendages. In the majority of the species the two anterior tarsi of the 

 males are alone more dilated than the rest. The species with the extremity of the antenna distinctly perfoliated 

 or with transverse joints, forming a sudden club, with the elytra notched at the tips, forms Leach's genus Tliana- 

 tophilus (S. simiaia, Fab., &c.), whilst those with similar antenna, but with the elytra entire, form his genus 

 Oiceoptoma {type S. tfioiacica, Linn., of a black colour, with the thorax red, silky, and with three elevated lines ; is 

 chiefly found in woods.) Those species which have the antenna; perfoliated, but with the club gradually formed, 

 are retained under the generic name of Silpha by Leach. They are generally found in fields, on the borders of 

 paths, &c.: example, Silpha Icevigata, Fab.; shining black, with the thorax much narrowed in front, and the elytra 

 without elevated lines : S. obscura, Linn., S. reticulata, Linn., &c. In some the terminal joints of the antenuEe 

 are globular and not perfoliated ; these form the genus Phosphuga of Leach : ex. <S'. atrata, Fab., &c. 



A German species (S. subterranea, Illig.), having the four anterior tarsi alike dilated at the base in the males, 

 and the five terminal joints of the antennae forming a perfoliated club, may be formed into another subgenus, Necro- 

 philiis, Latr. 



Agyrtes, Froehl., has the body thick, convex above, not shield-like, thorax nearly square, and the edge of the 

 elytra not margined. A. ca^taneus^ Gyll. 



Those Clavicomes which appear to us to approach Agyrtes, both in respect to their characters and 

 liabits, but which have the mandibles notched or bidentate at the tip, form the fourth tribe, Scaphidites. 

 Their tarsi have five distinct and entire joints, the body is oval, narrowed at both ends, convex above, 

 thickened in the middle, with the head low, and received posteriorly in a trapezoidal thorax. The 

 antennae are generally as long as the head and thorax, and terminated by an elongated 5-jointed mass; 

 the legs are long and slender. Except in the Cholevse, the tarsi are identical in the sexes. This tribe 

 consists of the genus 



ScAPHiDiuM, Oliv. 



Scaphidium proper, has the five terminal joints of the antennas nearly globular, and forming the club. The 

 maxillary palpi are but little porrected, and terminate gradually in a point ; the body is navicular, and the elytra 

 truncate. They reside in boleti. Few species are known, one inhabiting Cayenne, the others the north of Europe. 

 \_S. qiiadrimaculatum, a very pretty and rare Uritish species ; black shiny, with four red spots on the elytra.] 



Choleva, Latr., has the club of the antenna; composed of more or less perfoliated joints; the maxillary palpi are 

 much exposed, and suddenly terminated like an awl ; body ovoid, thorax flat ; the four basal joints of the anterior 

 and the basal joint of the intermediate tarsi are dilated as in the males of some species. (Catopx blapoides, Germ ) 

 In Choleva proper, the antennae are about as long as the head and thorax, the eighth joint is evidently shorter 

 than the preceding and following, and sometimes scarcely distinct, and the last is pointed. In Mi/ltechiis, Latr., 

 Catops, Payk., Gyll., the antennae are shorter, the eighth joint being longer than the preceding, and the last 

 rounded at the tip. (See the monograph on Choleva, byW. Spence, published in the Transactions of the Linn<ean 

 Society of London.) 



The fifth tribe, NitidtdaricB, approaches the Silphales in the shield-shaped, margined body, but the 

 mandibles are bifid at the tips, the tarsi appear only 4-jointed, the basal and following joint in some 

 being only visible on the under-side ; the penultimate joint in others is very small, nodose, and hidden 

 between the lobes of the preceding ; the club of the antennae is always perfoliated, and composed of 

 three or two joints, and generally short, or but little elongated. The palpi are short and filiform, the 

 elytra short and truncated in some species. The habitation of these insects varies according to the species, 

 being found in flowers, boleti, fungi, waste victuals, aud under the bark of trees. They form the genus 



NiTIDULA. 



Colobicics, Latr., has the club of the antennae only 2-jointed ; the front of the head is produced like a semicircular 

 clypeus, covering the mandibles and other imrts of the mouth ; the tarsi appear only 4-jointed, the real basal joint 

 being only visible on the under-side. 



All the other Kitidulaires have the antennae terminated by a 3-jointed club, and the front of the head is not pro- 

 duced over the mouth. 



Tlijimalus, Latr., agrees with Colobicus in having the basal joint of the tarsi very short, and the three foUowin"^ 

 long and entire. In the nearly hemispherical species (T. limbatus), the club of the antenna; is shorter. 



