PSELAPHID.E. 



85 



The insects forming this division of the Coleoptera are conspicu- 

 ous for the length and tenuity of the body, united, in general, to very 

 considerably abbreviated elytra, and an acuminated scaly abdomen, 

 at the apex of which are generally placed two soft conical velvety 

 vesicles : the head is generally large and flat, with strong mandibles 

 and short antennae. 



They reside in putrid and putrescent matter, both animal and 

 vegetable, though some few species are found in flowers and fungi, 

 or beneath the bark of trees, stones, and under the rejectamenta of 

 rivers : they are extremely voracious, run with great activity, and 

 when touched elevate the posterior portion of the abdomen, and 

 expose the vesicles at its extremity; the larger species bite 

 severely. Their larvas considerably resemble the perfect insect; 

 they are of an elongate-conic form, with the head, which is large, at 

 the base, and the terminal ring is produced, and is accompanied by 

 two conical velvety appendages : they also subsist upon similar sub- 

 stances with the imago. 



The indigenous species are extremely numerous, and may be thus 

 divided into famiUes, as indicated by Latreille : 



Tarn 3-articul;iti, monodactyli : 66. PsEhAvaiBJE. 



plerumque 5-articulati, didactyli. 

 Caput ssepisslme sessile, usque ad oculos intrusum : . , 6T. TACHYPORiDiE. 

 exsertum ; collo distincto. 

 Labruni profunde biiobum: ..... 68. StaphyliniDjE. 

 integrum. 

 Palpi viaxillares capite longiores : . , . 69. StenidjE. 



breviores : . . ,. 70. OmaliDjE. 



Famii-y LXVI.-PSELAPHID^, Leach. 



Mandibles homy, acute^ the anterior margin with two sharp teeth. Palpi four, 

 maxillary elongated, with three or five joints, the terminal one of variable 

 form, being pear-shaped, or ovate, or securiform: head porrected, trian-> 

 gular, or quadrate, bilobed anteriorly, the antennae seated on the lobes : eyes 

 granulated, prominent : thorax variable: elytra abbreviated, covering about 

 half the abdomen ; wings ample : legs cursorial ; femora long, gradually 

 clavate; tibiae slender; tarsi with three joints, the terminal one furnished 

 with a single claw. 



The minute insects which compose this family may be at once 

 known by their slender triarticulatc tarsi, the terminal joint of which 

 is furnished with a single acute claw : their general structure is, in 



