894 CLASSIFICATION OF THE RHYNCHOPHOROUS COLEOPTERA. 
are much smaller, and imbricated upon the 5th and 4th respec- 
tively ; the side margin of the 1st and 2d is very narrow, and the 
side pieces of the metasternum are scarcely visible. The elytra 
are connate, with the lateral groove of the inner face narrow and 
sharply defined, becoming broader and indefinite at the posterior 
fourth ; on the inner face are seen eight rows of punctures, cor- 
responding to ridges of tubercles on the back. The tarsi are 
4-jointed, narrow, or at least the 3d joint not wider than the 
others, deeply grooved beneath; the tibiz are truncate, without 
spurs, the front pair a little incurved at tip in both sexes. Claws 
simple, not contiguous. 
The genera of this family are stated by Mr. Jekel,* to differ by 
the form of the eyes, some being Cyclophthalmes, others Oxyoph- 
thalmes ; also in the antennal grooves, some being Obliquiscrobes, 
others Lateriscrobes. The vestiture of the under surface of the 
tarsi varies in different genera; in Psalidura they are spongy seri- 
ceous beneath, in others ciliate or spinous. : 
In other genera, the sexual characters are less remarkable than 
in Psalidura, and will be found to consist chiefly in the division 
of the last dorsal segment into two, as in the other families of the 
series. 
The Brachyceridz are restricted to Africa and the neighboring 
parts of Europe and Asia. They are stout insects, with ventri- 
cose elytra, suddenly deflexed behind, and extending far upon the 
flanks, like the first tribes of Tenebrionids, which they also rè- 
semble in the large mentum, flat, filling the whole of the buccal 
cavity. The beak is short and stout, thicker at the extremity, 
alike in both sexes; the antennal grooves are wanting (Episus) ; 
or deep and directed downwards, almost confluent in the gular es 
gion (Brachycerus, Microcerus). The antenne are short, straight 
or feebly geniculate, scape forming less than } the length; joints 
of the funiculus 7, rather short, club solid, obconical, truncate 
or subacuminate at tip. Eyes rounded or transverse and acumr 
nate at the lower end. Mandibles stout, short, more prominent 
in Brachycerus, where they have the lower margin more produced 
into a cutting edge: the front surface is rough and somewhat a0- 
gular, but without any trace of the rounded scar seen in Otiorhyn- : 
chide. The scutellum is scarcely visible; the elytra, aS above 
mentioned, are ventricose, irregularly tuberculate or costate, YOT i 
OO EEE Aen, Kat: Bos, Branco 3004, MA. 
