PEELIMHSTAEY CLASSIFICATIOlSr OF SCOLYTOIDEA. 167 



POSITION OF THE SCOLYTOIDEA. 



The contrasting characters which indicate the position of the super- 

 family Scolytoidea in the order Coleoptera are as follows: 



Order COLEOPTERA. 



Maxilla undivided, the palpi rigid and with not more than three joints; larvae leg- 

 less Suborder Rhynchophora. 



Maxilla divided, more or less flexible, and with a flexible palpus, usually 4-jointed; 

 larvae rarely without legs All other Coleoptera. 



Suborder RHYNCHOPHOHA. 



Head without prominent rostrum or beals and the submentum never produced into 

 a gular peduncle Superfamily Scolytoidea. 



Head usually with prominent rostrum or beak and the submentum always more or less 

 produced into a gular peduncle All other Rhynchophora. 



It is evident to the writer that, in consideration of the extremes in 

 morphological characters to be found in the order Coleoptera, the 

 superfamily Scolytoidea occupies a position opposite to that of the 

 Carabidss, and that in the Rhynchophora it occupies an opposite 

 position to that of the Apionidse. 



It seems desirable to place the Scolytoidea first in the classifi- 

 cation of the Coleoptera, not because of any theory as to their origin 

 or phylogeny but because their elements of structure seem to form a 

 better and more correct basis from which to proceed in the interpre- 

 tation of the progressive modification of the characters which serve 

 to distinguish the major and minor divisions and groups. Such a 

 method should not conflict with other methods because it should 

 make little difference whether we begin with the Scolytoidea or the 

 Carabidse. If the interpretation of the progressive modifications 

 and natural relations is correct, the relative positions of the various 

 groups will be the same, or similar. It is simply a matter of 

 choosing between the two directly opposite methods to attain the 

 same result and of adopting the one which seems to be more in accord 

 with the natural course of change or evolution from one extreme to 

 the opposite. 



If we begin with the scolytoid beetles we find throughout the sub- 

 order Rhynchophora two dominant or constant characters, namely, 

 the rigid maxiUse and the legless larvae. We find also certam change- 

 able characters repeatedly paralleled in the various major and minor 

 groups, and that the general progressive modification of these charac- 

 ters, as, for example, the tendency toward a prolongation of the head, 

 represents a separate and greatly divergmg line of morphological 

 expression or evolution from that prevailing in the other divisions of 

 the Coleoptera. 



In the other divisions of the Coleoptera the divided maxilla, with 

 flexible palpi, and the legged larvae are the prevailing and more domi- 



