336 Mr A. E. Shipley, On Lethrus cephalotes, [Feb. 25, 
are small, and brown in colour, they are situated close behind the 
lateral angles of the head and just behind the insertion of the 
antennae. The margin of the head is fringed with hairs. In 
front of the head, the large biting mandibles project ; their formid- 
able size is well shown in fig. 1. The local name Kara terzi or 
black tailor is probably a tribute to the shear-like character of 
these appendages. The antennae are very characteristic, they 
arise just in front of the eyes, and pass downward and backward, 
so that their distal ends are not far from the ground. They 
consist of eleven joints, the last three of which are curiously 
modified. The first joint is large, then follow seven small joints, 
diminishing in length distally, then comes a large conical joint 
(fig. 1a). This ends in a flat, round disk; on this disk are two 
concentric circles, which are caused by the edges of the 10th and 
11th joints (fig. 1b), These are flattened plates attached to the 
rim of the cone-like 9th joint at one point only, and thus they 
can be elevated in the way indicated in fig. le. 
The prothorax is 24 times as broad as it is long, it is strongly 
arched, and its anterior border is hollowed out where the head 
projects. Its posterior border is almost straight. The scutellum 
is small. 
The breadth between the shoulders is a little less than that 
of the prothorax, and a little longer than the whole length of the 
abdomen. The elytra are much arched and the posterior end of 
the abdomen is obtuse. 
The coxae of the legs are short and stout, there are two 
trochanters, and the femur is provided with a row of stiff hairs 
borne on its inner margin. The tibia is flattened and adapted 
for digging, it bears a row of tubercles on its outer surface. 
These peculiarities are more marked in the anterior pair of 
legs than in the other two. The tubercles increase in size 
towards the distal end of the tibia, and the last one is prolonged 
into a thorn, longer than the first joint of the tarsus which it 
overlaps, opposite this is a spine of about the same length. On 
the posterior legs two smaller spines occupy a similar position. 
Along the outer side of the tibia a curious brush of closely 
packed hairs is situated, and four other rows of hairs run down 
the tibia parallel with this. The first and fifth joimts of the 
posterior tarsi are long and each is about as long as the three 
middle joints taken together. Each joint bears numerous hairs, 
and the fifth terminates in a pair of ungues. 
The length of the beetle is 2 c.m., the width of the prothorax 
at the broadest part 1°25 c.m. 
These beetles live in pairs, in deeply tunneled holes in the 
ground. The male may often be seen in fine weather keeping 
guard at the mouth of the hole, into which it precipitately retreats 
