382 Coleopterological Notices, IV. 



SMICRONYX Schonh. 

 Pachytychius Lee. nee Jekel ; Desmoris Lee. 



The genus Pachytychius of Jekel, as represented by the European 

 squamosus Gryll., examples of which have been recently sent me 

 by M. Desbrochers des Loges, has the beak unconstricted at base 

 and similar to that of Tychius, and the tarsal claws small, simple, 

 divergent and distant at base, forming in fact one of the connective 

 bonds between the Erirhinini and Tychiini. Pachytychius does not 

 appear to be represented in the American fauna, and the two species 

 provisionally placed there by LeConte are entirely identical in all 

 structural characters, which can in any way be considered of generic 

 worth, with the form described by that author as Smicronyx corpu- 

 lentus and the other species placed in Smicronyx. 



Desmoris of LeConte was founded upon two species of rather 

 larger size than the others, but, if care be taken to examine D. con- 

 strictus, it will be found a perfect homologue of such species as 

 Smicronyx sordidus and griseus, in all points of facies and structure. 



Smicronyx is a rather large genus, constituting a special group 

 of the Erirhinini, characterized by the strong basal constriction of 

 the beak and the simple tarsal claws which are invariably connate 

 in basal third or fourth. It is somewhat heterogeneous in the ex- 

 ternal aspect of its species, both here and in Europe, but as far as 

 can be perceived is entirely uniform in the essential generic struc- 

 tures referred to, as w T ell as in abdominal structure, in the coarsely 

 faceted eyes, somewhat approximate beneath, and in the deeply sin- 

 uate apical margin of the prosternum. The elytra are, as a rule, 

 distinctly wider at base than the disk of the prothorax, but are not 

 as elongate as in Dorytomus, and are generally acutely rounded 

 behind in apical half, with the tenth stria very short and remote 

 from the ninth, closely approaching the latter behind the humeri. 

 The scutellum is small, the legs rather short and stout, the femora 

 unarmed, the tibial spur distinct, and the third tarsal joint dilated 

 and bilobed, the fourth being somewhat short or moderate in length. 



The species are small in size, and include among them some of 

 the most minute curculionides known to us at present. Those of 

 our fauna may be provisionally classified as follows : — 



Fifth elytral interval densely clothed nearly throughout with white scales ; 

 second joint of the antennal funicle almost as long as the first ; body 

 robust, oval, convex, densely hut unevenly squamose...! lineolatllS 



