COLEOPTERA. 399 



The extremity of the mandibles is bifid; the last joint of the maxil- 

 lary palpi is larger and securiform, or in the figure of a reversed 

 triangle; the eyes are oblong, and reniform or emarginated. None 

 of the legs are fitted for leaping; the penultimate joint of the tarsi, 

 or at least of the last ones, is almost always entire or not deeply 

 emarginate; their terminal hooks are simple, or without fissure or 

 dentation; the body is most commonly arcuated above, and always 

 solid and firm. 



Such of the larv£B as are known to us are smooth, filiform and 

 glossy, with very short legs, like that of a Tenebrio. They are 

 found in old wood, and the perfect Insect lives under the bark of 

 trees. 



This tribe mostly corresponds to the genus 



Helops, Fab. 

 In Helops properly so styled, most of the joints of the anteniiK are almost 

 obconical or cylindrical, and attenuated at base. The thorax is transversal, 

 or hardly as long as it is wide, either square, trapezoidal, or cordiform, 

 abruptly narrowed posteriorly, terminated by pointed angles, and always 

 exactly applied to the base of the elytra. 



The remaining genera of this tribe aie Epitragus, Cnodalon, Campsia, &c. 



The second tribe, that of the Cistelides, is very closely allied 

 indeed to the first, but the insertion of the antennae is not covered, 

 the mandibles terminate in an entire or unemarginate point, and the 

 hooks of the tarsi are pectinated inferiorly. Several of these In- 

 sects live on flowers. This tribe forms the genus 



CisTELA, Fab. 

 In Cistela properly so called, the head projects in the manner of a snout, 

 and the labrum is hardly wider than it is long; most of the joints of the 

 antenna are either obconical, triangular, or even serrated; the last is always 

 oblong. The body is ovoid or bordering on an oval. 

 The other genera are Lystronichus, Mycetophagus, and MUcula. 



The third tribe, that of the Sereopalpides, is remarkable, as in- 

 timated by its name, for the maxillary palpi, which are frequently 

 serrated, very large, and inclined. The antenna3 are inserted in an 

 emargination of the eyes, exposed, as in the preceding tribe, and 

 most usually short and filiform. The mandibles are emarginated 

 or bifid at the extremity, and the hooks of the tarsi are simple. 



