LARV.E OF THE PRIOXIX^. 7 



present it is impossible iii many cases to recognize a genus. How- 

 ever, the species are generally distinct, not only in the usual specific 

 characters, but also in profound anatomical structures. 



The larvae of the family show much more similarity to one another 

 than do the adults, but although they possess fewer characters, after 

 the ehmination of those developed under the influence of a peculiar 

 and special environment, these few, it seems, will offer a very im- 

 portant index to the natural classification. 



The most important of these larval characters, considered as show- 

 ing the relationship of the subfamihes, is the form and structure of 

 the head; for even if one species in a certam subfamily may bore into 

 the Uving trunk of a tree, while another may work in the roots of an 

 herbaceous plant, even makmg its gallery in the ground and feeding 

 on the bark of the root, the form of the head and the structure of the 

 mouth parts, especially the shape of the mandibles, are not altered 

 as a result of these divergent habits. 



Little systematic work has been done by the entomologists on the 

 immature stages of North American cerambycids. Isolated descrip- 

 tions are scattered. These, chiefly by Packard, Riley, and Osten- 

 Sacken, are often too vague to be of value in identifying a species. 

 European literature is richer in such work. The unexcelled work of 

 Ferris^ and of Schiodte^ stand as landmarks. The writer has adopted 

 the latter's division for subfamilies and only slightly modified his 

 characterization of them. 



The Family Cerambycids. 



The larvae of the family Cerambycidse may be characterized as 

 follows : 



Form rather robust, fleshy, usuaUy c^dindric. Texture thin, 

 sHghtly coriaceous, more so on prothorax, never deeply pigmented, 

 pubescent. 



Head extended, deeply invaginated into prothorax, occiput large, 

 occipital foramen very large, opening on underside.^ Ventral mouth 

 parts retracted.* Clypeus distinct, membranous; labrum distinct, 

 thrust forward; mandibles short, quadrangular; labial palpi distinct, 

 conical. 



Prothorax large; membranous collar articulating head with the 

 prothorax wide; meso thorax and metathorax narrower. Feet either 

 small or wanting, widely distant, conical; tarsi claw-shaped. 



Abdomen extended, segments readily telescoping on one another, 

 dorsally and ventrally bearing a fleshy protuberance (ambulatory 



1 Perris, Edouard. Larves de Coleopteres. Paris, 1877. 590* p., 14 pi. Extrait des Annales de la 

 Societe linneenne de Lyon. v. 22, 1876. 



2 Schi^dte, J. M. C. De Metamorphosi Eleutheratorum Observationes. pt. 9-12. Kj0benhavn, 1S76-1SS3. 

 From Natiirhistorisk tidsskrift, ser. 3, bd. 10, p. 369-458; bd. 11, p. 479-598; bd. 12, p. 513-598; bd. 13, 

 p. 415-426. 



3 Except DisUnea, in many respects a remarkable genus. 



* As ventral mouth parts I designate maxillae, labium, mentum, and submentum. 



