19. 

 RIPIPHORUS PARADOXUS. 



cP.<5L 



Order Coleoptera. Fam. Mordellidae Lat. 



Type of the Genus, Mordella paradoxa Linn. 



RipiPHORUs Fab., Lat., Curt. — Mordella Linn. 



Antennce inserted between the eyes, remote, 11 -jointed, basal joint 

 the stoutest, somewhat obconic, 2nd the smallest, 8 following flabel- 

 late or bipectinate in the male, terminal joint very long and filiform 

 (6) : 3rd joint the longest in the female, producing a single branch 

 as well as the 8 following (65). 

 Labrum coriaceous, exserted, semiovate, ciliated (1).'' 

 Mandibles arcuated, apex acute, externally hairy (2). 

 Maxilla very small, slightly bilobed and ciliated. Palpi large, hairy, 

 4-jointed, basal joint very small, 2nd long and clavate, 3rd short, 4tli 

 the longest and stoutest, truncated obliquely (3). 

 Mentum long and narrow, terminating in an obtuse point. Palpi 

 hairy, biarticulate, basal joint the smallest, 2nd long and clavate (4). 

 Head cordiform, very small, scarcely visible from above : eyes ovate. 

 Thorax very much arched, base trilobed, angles acuminated, the centre pro- 

 duced into an ovate lobe : scutel none or concealed. Abdomen arcuate, sidefi 

 compressed, apex very acute. Elytra shorter than the body, attenuated, 

 acuminated and gaping at the apex. Wings folded, as long as the body, 

 hegs, 4 posterior the longest : tibiae spurred : tarsi slender, simple, 5, 5- and 

 4-jointed, basal joint the longest, remainder gradually decreasing in length, 

 4th a little the shortest : claws bijid at the apex. (Sf hind leg.) 



Paradoxus Linn. — Curt. Guide, Gen. 274. 1. 



Black, pubescent, punctured. Thorax with a deep broad channel in 

 the centre, lateral lobes testaceous. Elytra testaceous in the male, 

 and black at the apex ; black in the female and slightly tinged with 

 testaceous. Wings fuscous at the apex. Abdomen orange, apex 

 black, sometimes entirely black. Claws testaceous. 



In the Author s and other Cabinets. 



This beautiful and interesting insect, which is the only species of 

 liipipJiorus that inhabits Britain, was considered a few years back 

 one of our most valuable acquisitions, being only met with acci- 

 dentally, in consequence of our ignorance of its habits and economy ; 

 but its natural habitation having been discovered by my friend Mr. 

 W. S. MacLeay, the attention of naturalists was called to the 

 subject, and it lias since been taken in profusion in Shropshire, 

 by the Rev. F. W. Hope; and at Southgate, not uncommonly, 

 by Mr. Edwin Walker, in August and September IS'iS, to whom 

 I am indebted for the very fine specimens figured in the plate, 

 which far exceed in size any that I have seen elsewhere; and this 

 gentleman observed, that the individuals taken in August were 

 much smaller than those that were captured later in the autumn. 



152 



