7- }%'^Q 

 319. 



OPATRUM TIBIALE. 



Order Coleoptera. Fam. Tenebrionidae Lat. 



Type of the Genus, Silpha sabulosa Linn. 



Opatrum Fah., Lat., Sam. — Tenebrio Geof., Mars. — Silpha Linn. 

 AntenncB inserted under the clypeus, as long as the head, cla- 

 vate, producing short spiny bristles, 11-joinled, basal joint the 

 longest, curved, 2nd cupshaped, 3rd nearly as long as the 1st, 

 three following subglobose, the remainder cupshaped, increasing 

 in size, the 9th 10th and 11th forming the club, terminal joint 

 suborbicular and pubescent (6). 



Labrum suborbicular, emarginate before, sides ciliated (1). 

 Mandibles thick, trigonate, excavated on the inside and pro- 

 ducing a leathery lobe (2). 



Maxilla small, dilated at the base, terminated by 2 narrow pilose 

 lobes, the internal one horny and bifid at the apex (c) ; external 

 one the largest and articulated. Palpi not long but stout, 

 hatchet-shaped and 4-jointed, basal joint small, 2nd large elon- 

 gate-ovate, 3rd much shorter, 4th trigonate (3). 

 Men turn pyriform, truncated at the base. Palpi short, arising 

 from behind the mentum, apparently biarticulate, basal joint 

 subtrigonate, 2nd twice as large, somewhat elongate-conic, thin 

 at the apex. Labium concealed but ciliated (4). 

 Head transverse ovate, the sides angulated ; clypeus semicircular, 

 emarginate in front. Eyes small, placed behind the angles of the 

 head. Thorax transverse, semiorbicular, deeply concave before and 

 sinuated behind, where the angles are acute. Scutellum minute. 

 Elytra oval, the sides inflected. Wings not longer than the body, 

 unfit for Jtight. Legs neither long nor robust. Tihidd compressed 

 and dilated at the apex, especially the anterior pair which are slightly 

 serrated externally, and producing small spurs. Tarsi ; 4 aiiterior 

 ^-jointed, monilform, excepting the last joint which is long and in- 

 crassated at the apex (5)j posterior pair 4-jointed, basal joint 

 longer than the 2nd and 3rd, which are moniliform, ^th long. 

 Claws bent and acute (5| a portion of hinder tibia and tarsus). 



TiBiALE Fab. Ent. Syst. — Curtis's Guide, Genus 256. 2. 



Black, shining, thickly and strongly punctured. Thorax with 

 5 shining spots, 2 of them lunulate on the disc, 2 minute ones 

 behind and an ovate one above the scutellum. Elytra with the 

 surface uneven, and 2 or 3 irregular and slightly elevated lines 

 on each. Legs slightly castaneous. 



In the Author's and other Cabinets, 



