1872.] DR. LE CONTE ON PLATYPSYLLID^TC. 799 



separates the darker colour of the upper parts from the paler belly. 

 Tail similar. Its lower parts, however, are not pure white, but dingy- 

 yellowish, varied with white on the throat and on the breast. 



"We have, then, in this animal a Panolia with the horns of a Rucer- 

 vus ; and I suspect you are right in suggesting (p. 349) that 'all three 

 will be ultimately found to belong to the same subgeneric group.' 



" I am trying to persuade my friend to send this rare and noble 

 beast to the Society's Gardens." 



The following papers were read :— 



1. On Platypsyllida, a new Family of Coleoptera. 

 By J. L. Le Conte, M.D. 



[Received June 24, 1872] 



(Plate LXVIII.) 



Mentum large, transverse, flat, corneous, emarginate in front, with 

 the angles broadly rounded ; sides rounded, trilobed behind ; middle 

 lobe parallel on the sides, broadly rounded at tip : the lateral lobes 

 are very large, flat, subtriangular processes, obliquely rounded on the 

 outer margin, straight on the inner side, gradually narrowed behind, 

 and rounded at the tips ; these processes are nearly as long as the 

 middle lobe, separated from it by narrow fissures, and, like it, project 

 far over the gula. Ligula broad, corneous, filling up the emargi- 

 nation of the mentum, and projecting beyond it, emarginate in front, 

 without paraglossse. Labial palpi short, three-jointed : first joint 

 thick, broader than long; second joint much thiuner, about as 

 long as wide ; third narrower, and longer than the second. Lingua 

 fleshy, concealed behind the ligula, emarginate in front. 



M axillae large and strongly made; stipes broad, outer portion 

 corneous; cardo large and corneous; lobes two, large, flat, and 

 thin, cilated with long bristles, outer one somewhat triangular, with 

 curved sides ; inner lobe smaller than the outer, broadly rounded at 

 tip. Maxillary palpi four -jointed : first joint short; second tri- 

 angular, a little longer than wide, outer angle with a strong bristle 

 half as long as the third joint, inner angle with a much longer 

 bristle extending nearly to the tip of the fourth joint ; third joint 

 triangular, larger than the second ; fourth subfusiform, narrower, 

 but scarcely shorter than the third. 



Antennae with the first joint elongate, subcylindrical, with a very 

 long bristle at the outer distal angle, and a short one at the inner 

 angle ; second joint large, about half as long as the first, cup-shaped, 

 fringed with long hairs ; remaining joints forming an oval club, with 

 distinct transverse articulations fringed with long hairs. (I cannot 

 count accurately the number of joints in the club, but think I can 

 detect only seven, which would make the total number of joints in 

 the antenna nine. The base of the club is received so deeply in the 

 cup-shaped second joint, that one joint may have escaped my notice. 



