INSECTA. 
472 
mity of the head is not abruptly narrowed, and the base of the 
thorax is as wide as that of the elytra In 
Berosus, Leach, 
On the contrary, the eyes are very prominent, the anterior extre- 
mity of the head is narrowed abruptly, and the base of the thorax is 
narrower than that of the elytra. The body is very convex 
Our second tribe, or the Sph.eridiota, consists of terrestrial Pal- 
picornes, with tarsi composed of five very distinct joints, the first 
of Avhich is at least as long as the second. The maxillary palpi are 
somewhat shorter than the antennae, with the third joint longer, 
inflated, and in the form of a reversed cone. The maxillary lobes 
are membranous. 
The body is nearly hemispherical, the posterior extremity of the 
praesternum is prolonged into a point, and the tibiae are spinous ; 
those that are anterior are palmated or digitated in the large species. 
The antennae always consist of nine joints, or of eight, if the last be 
considered as an appendage of the penultimate 
These Insects are small, and inhabit cow-dung and other excre- 
mentitious matters; certain species are found near the shores of 
rivers, &c. They compose the genus 
Sph^ridium, Fah. 
From which, however, Ave must separate several species, a division 
already effected by Olivier. Dr. Leach only considers as such those 
in which the anterior tarsi of the males are dilated. Such is 
S. 4-macnlatiim ; Dermestes scarabceoides, L. ; Oliv., Col. 
II, 15, 1 and 3, II, 11. It is of a shining black and smooth; 
the scutellum is elongated, and the legs are very spinous ; a 
blood-red spot at the base of each elytron, and their extremity 
reddish. In some individuals these spots diminish or disappear. 
The species, in Avhich the tarsi are similar in both sexes, and 
whose antennal club is closely imbricated, compose the genus Cer- 
cydion^ of Leach. The Sphaeridia might be divided into several 
other sections by characters drawn from the form of the tibiae, and 
the disposition of their spines or dentations, a division which would 
facilitate the study of the species, that seem to have been improperly 
multiplied ||. 
* The Hydrobii scarabceoides, melanocephalus, orbicularis, &c. 
'f' H. luridus, Fab. 
X See Elater aad several other genera of the Coleoptera. 
§ The Sphferidia unipunctahnn, melajiocephalum, &c. ; Zool., Miscell., Ill, p. 95. 
11 For the other species, see Olivier, Schoenherr, Gyllenhal, Dejean, &c. 
END OF VOL. III. 
