THE TOBACCO BEETLE. 13 
margin of’ the hypostomal triangles, anteriorly adjoining Ssubmentum, poste- 
riorly adjoining the presternites; occiput directed obliquely downwards and 
forwards. Mouthparts hypognathous; labrum and clypeus present; antenna 
small, situated at the anterior corner of frons, Separated from basal skin of 
mandible by a narrow chitinous bridge; maxillary palp three-jointed, no definite 
palpiger ; submentum and mentum the conspicuous parts of the ventral side of 
head; maxillary articulating area simple, neither chitinized nor subdivided into 
- two or more separate lobes; stipes labialis with well developed ligula, labial 
palpigers, and palpi; hypopharyngeal chitinizations not developed. Tentorial 
bridge broad; hypopharyngeal bracon present. Body curved, wrinkled, fleshy, 
whitish. Legs developed; with several joints; last joint clawlike; no real 
claws; prehypopleurum and posthypopleurum indicated but not chitinized. 
Prothorax with small presternites fused into a narrow, transverse band; no 
separate prebasisternum; no sternellum; poststernellum well developed ; meso- 
thorax and metathorax with well developed epipleural median lobe closely 
connected with the alar area; spiracle-bearing preepipleurum not reaching the 
presternum; no definite sternellum; mesothorax with and metathorax without 
poststernellum. Abdominal segments ten; prescutal area large, protuberant ; 
dorsal parts of scutum and scutellum not developed into ampullatory lobes; 
epipleurum bulged; parasternum anteriorly limited by a straight line; ninth 
abdominal segment without cerci or any chitinizations. Spiracles annuliform; 
mesothoracic spiracle apparently prothoracic, the preepipleurum of mesothorax 
being pushed forwards; metathoracic spiracle rudimentary; eight abdominal 
spiracles. 
GENERIC CHARACTERS. 
In the family Anobiidae (Ptinidae), the genus Lasioderma, belonging to the 
group Ptinini, is characterized as follows: Head rounded, not deeply sunk into 
prothorax; epistoma strong, rigid, with median region only slightly concave, 
and lateral regions subrectangular, projecting, not divided by any depressions; 
labrum subrectangular, with straight anterior margin and rounded corners; 
clypeus somewhat broader, subrectangular; one ocellus; antenna two-jointed, 
with large terminal sensory papilla; mandible with bidentate apex and convex, 
irregularly serrated cutting edge; no molar part or prostheca; maxillary 
lacinia single, broad, flat, Ssemiovate, spinose, extending from distal end of 
stipes; at its base arising from the boundary region between hypopharynx and 
stipes maxillaris a freely projecting, somewhat shorter, four times narrower, 
lanceolate, spinose structure; stipes labialis broad and short; mentum some- 
what large, transversely subrectangular, separated from the. still broader, 
trapezoidal submentum by a straight, rather faint line; maxillary articulating 
lobe small; gula very narrow. Legs five-jointed; tarsal joint distinct, falci- 
form, clawlike. Prothorax with tergum outlined like a dumbell, the alar areas 
being lobate, much larger than the upper tergal part; no chitinous linear im- 
pression between alar area and the upper tergal part. Mesothorax and meta- 
thorax both with sharply defined prescutum; scuto-scutellar parts fused. The 
first seven abdominal segments with a large prescutum, a narrow scutal fold, 
and a large scutellum; the tergal parts of the last three abdominal segments 
not divided ; tergal folds dorsally and laterally granulated, but without trans- 
verse series of stout, backwardly curved spinules; tenth abdominal segment 
well developed, with two large, cushion-like pads on each side of a linear, 
vertical, anal fissure. Last spiracle no larger than the preceding abdominal 
spiracles, 
