128 MANI>IBULATA. NEUROPTERA. 



Genus XXIII,— ATROPOS, Leach. 



Antennce long and slender, composed of about 14 joints, the two basal ones 

 robust, the remainder slender, cylindric, slightly pilose, gradually decreasing 

 in length from the fourth, which is the longest : palpi with the two basal 

 joints of equal length, the third longer and more slender, the terminal one 

 stouter, obtuse, nearly as long as the other three: labrum transverse, 

 rounded in front : head somewhat quadrate : eyes small, lateral : collar very 

 short, transverse : tho7-ax quadrate : icings none : ahdonien oblong, or ovate, 

 depressed, soft ; legs moderate ; four anterior femora slightly thickened, 

 tip attenuated ; posterior pair considerably iiicrassated, narrowed at the apex : 

 tibim all slender and simple ; tarsi short, 3-articulate. 



The minute insects belonging to this genus may be known from 

 the Psoci by not only being destitute of wings, but by having the 

 tarsi 3-articulate, the body depressed, the hinder femora very much 

 incrassated, and in the form of the head and tropin : they are found 

 among collections of insects, plants, and animals, when unprotected 

 by camphor, Sec. and are sometimes very destructive to the former, 

 especially to minute Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera, 

 consuming the cilia of the wings of the former, and the antennse of 

 the others. They are commonly known by the name of death-watch 

 or book-louse, the latter from their great resemblance to the insect 

 whose cognomen it bears, and the former from their habits, they 

 having the propensity, in common with certain Anobia, of making a 

 peculiar noise, which somewhat resembles the ticking of a watch, and 

 is sometimes prolonged, at intervals of about a minute, for a con- 

 siderable time. The anatomical details of the type of this genus are 

 given by Nitzsche, in the fourth vol. of Germar's Magazin der 

 Entomologie, accompanied by a plate (No. II.) 



Sp. 1. pulsatorius. PalUdus, ahdomine oblongo, ore rubra, oculis luteis. (Long. 

 Corp. i— I lin.) 



Termes pulsatorium. Linnc. — Wood, ii. ph 75. — At. pulsatorius. Staph. 

 Catal. 313. No. 3525. 



Oblong, pale : eyes yellow ; antennse as long as the body ; abdomen beneath 

 with a fuscous spot, and a dot of the same towards its apex; stigmata 

 rufescent ; mouth red. 



Latreille supposes this to be the larva of Psoais abdominalis, but I cannot 

 assent to this opinion. 



Very abundant, at all times, in neglected boxes of dried insects, 

 and in books. 



