852 Goleopterological Notices, VII. 



ably developed, and, in that genus, the labrum, which is small 

 and transverse as a rule, also becomes enormously large. The 

 variations of the antennae and palpi are explained in the tables of 

 tribes and genera. 



The prothorax is an important somite in classification, especi- 

 ally the circular impressed foveas which are generally visible near 

 the basal margin, and the relative extent of the prosternum before 

 the coxae. The form of the elytral apices, impressions at the base 

 of the elytra, form of the pygidium, and form and degree of sepa- 

 ration of the hind coxae, are all useful taxonomic elements, but 

 varying in importance in different tribes. The degree of separa- 

 tion of the coxae is, for example, much more unstable in the Eu- 

 connini than in the Scydmaenini, the latter tribe having, as one of 

 its most persistent characters, the subcontiguous coxae, with a 

 constant narrowly cleft metasternal prolongation. The elytra 

 never have a trace of epipleurae, and this may be considered an 

 additional bond of affinity with the Pselaphidae. 



The side-pieces of the metasternum are rarely exposed in the 

 Scj^dmaeninae, but are always distinct in the Clidicinae, where also 

 the hind coxfe have an entirely different form. The mesosternum 

 is generally more or less carinate, but becomes perfectly flat in 

 some genera, such as Eutheia. Its parapleurae are peculiarly 

 modified in the Scydmaeninae, but in so constant a manner that 

 but little use can generally be made of them in classification. 

 The middle coxae are entirely closed by the sterna, the mes-epi- 

 sternum being tumid and setose and elevated above the surface 

 of the metasternum behind it, the epimeron, when present, forming 

 the obliquely sloping connecting piece, except in the remarkable 

 genus Ceramphis, where the conical prothorax seems to abut 

 directly upon the smooth and very extended metasternum. 



The legs are generally rather short, the femora always more or 

 less clavate, the tibiae simple and without terminal spurs, the ante- 

 rior frequently flattened within toward apex and densely clothed on 

 the modified surface with short stout spinuliform vestiture, this 

 being a highly developed feature in the Euconnini, but so con- 

 stant and fixed that it aflbrds no variations of tangible weight in 

 classification. The claws are small, slender, divergent and sim- 

 ple. 



The taxonomic value of the maxillarj^ palpi of course varies 

 greatly in diff'erent groups of Coleoptera. In the Aleocharinl of 



