36 Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society. 
Famity LATHRIDIID A, 
General facies variable, usually oblong or ovate; maxillx bi- 
lobate ; labial palpi two or three-jointed, maxillary palpi four-jointed, 
last joint large, more or less rounded or conical; antennz with eight 
or eleven joints, first and second joints thicker than the third, the 
three, two or ultimate ones enlarged and forming a club varying in 
shape; frontal part with a distinct clypeal suture; labrum short, 
covering the mandibles, which are short and not prominent; elytra 
covering the abdominal segments; abdomen with five or six free 
seements, the first of which is usually longer than the others, while 
the second, third, and fourth are short ; anterior coxa more or less 
globose or conical, separated or contiguous ; intermediate ones sepa- 
rated, rounded, posterior ones transverse, widely separated ; tarsi 
three-jointed, third joint usually equal in length to the other two, 
and provided with simple claws. 
The family Lathridude is differentiated from among the Coleoptera 
clavicormia mainly by the structure of the tarsi. It has not the 
abbreviate elytra characteristic of the Pselaphide or of the trimerous 
group of Staphyluude. It cannot be mistaken for Coccinellide, 
which are also trimerous, because the Lathridiidous beetles have 
neither the last joint of palpi securiform, nor the second joint of 
tarsi bi-lobate. 
The family is distributed over all parts of the world. It is divided 
into three tribes containing about twenty-seven genera, but the fol- 
lowing synopsis includes only those represented in South Africa :— 
Synopsis of Tribes and Genera. 
A. Anterior coxze more or less separated by the prosternum. In the genus 
Holoparamecus they are very little divided); frontal part even, smooth, or 
hardly punctulate, separated from the clypeus by a single arcuate line; 
abdomen with five segments only in both sexes. MEROPHYSIINI. 
Antenne nine to eleven-jointed, club distinctly bi-articulate; elytra without 
longitudinal punctate striz, and having only a fine juxta-sutural stria on each 
SHAG). iors Sie viel) aed dole) Deeteey Pessuaadert: (eciee Mines Rie isles Mn RBI OLODILGCIUCELUS. 
B. Anterior coxe more or less separated by the prosternum; forehead uneven, 
sculptured in sundry ways, punctate, often furrowed and tuberculate, and 
divided from the clypeus by a transverse depression; abdomen five-segmented 
in both sexes. LATHRIDIINI. 
a. Prothorax with median dorsal costs entire or interrupted. 
b. Antenne ten-jointed; scutellum indistinct; elytra fused together ; upper 
and under sides covered with a white chalk-like substance 
Metophthalnus. 
