1896.] of the Goleoptera of South Africa. 173 



opening, when alarmed, a caustic fluid, the emission of which is 

 accompanied by a very audible report which has caused them to be 

 nicknamed " Bombardiers." 



The tribe is divided into five genera, but the affinities of these 

 insects to one another are so great that many of the characters 

 relied upon to incorporate them in these divisions vary in different 

 species included in the same genus. It is, however, generally 

 agreed to accept five genera, i.e., Aptinus, Phe7vpsophus , BrachinuSy 

 Mastax, and Crepidog aster. De Chaudoir, in his monograph of the 

 tribe (Annales Soc. Entom. de Belgique, 1876), has added another 

 genus, the characters of which, so far as the African species he 

 includes in it is concerned, seem to me, beyond the general facies, 

 hardly of sufficient importance. Of these six genera, five are repre- 

 sented in South Africa. 



Synopsis of Genera. 



Mentuixi without any median tooth ; last points of maxillary 

 and labial palpi broadly truncate at the tip Pliero])soplius. 



Last joints of palpi fusiform or subcylindrical, slightly 

 truncate at the tip Bracliinus. 



A median, not much developed tooth in the mentum . . . . Stypliromertis. 



Last joints of the palpi ovate, acuminate at the tip Mastax. 



Palpi short, the last joints large — that of the labial broadly 

 securiform, of the maxillary ovate, transversely truncate at tip Crepidog aster. 



Gen. PHEEOPSOPHUS, Solier, 

 Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1833, p. 461, and 1834, pi. xvi. figs. 5 & 7. 



Mentum without any median tooth ; paraglossse membranaceous, 

 a little longer than the ligula ; palpi thick, with the last of both 

 maxillary and labial truncated, the penultimate one of the maxillary 

 shorter than the ultimate one ; labrum fiat, obtusely rounded at the 

 apex, and with six setse ; antennae long, briefly setose, the second 

 joint short, the third one as long as the first two, the other equal ; 

 head and prothorax red or yellowish red, smooth, the latter part 

 subquadrate, a little narrowed behind and with a faint median 

 longitudinal groove ; elytra broader than the prothorax, nearly 

 always one-third broader at the apex than at the base, truncated 

 more or less obliquely behind, costate, and either black or with 

 yellowish spots or bands. 



Hah. The genus is represented in Europe, Africa (Egypt, 

 Senegal, Guinea, Angola, Abyssinia, Zanzibar), Madagascar, India, 

 Java, Philippine Islands, China, Japan, Australia, and South 

 America. 



