48 



INTRODUCTION. 



characteristic lamellate antennae, the strongly developed sexual 

 dimorphism of the head, and the distinct and, as a rule, uniform 

 structure of the larvae. The habits, moreover, of some of the 

 species appears to show a higher grade of intelligence. They may 

 be defined as follows : — 



III. Lamellicornia. — Venation of wiugs chiefly Cantharid ; an- 

 tennal club lamellate throughout the subfamilies ; ganglia 

 more or less concentrated (except in the LucANiDiE) ; 

 ovaries holoistic ; testes follicular, with the follicles 

 rounded and stalked ; one pair of accessory glands in the 

 male genital organs (except very rarely, as in Cetonia, 

 where there are three pairs) ; four Malpighian tubes ; 

 larvae usually without ocelli, stout thick grubs, with the 

 body more or less curved, so that their usual position is to 

 lie sideways ; larval legs comparatively long, the hind pair 

 rudimentary in the Passalid.e ; many of the larvae with 

 powers of stridulation ; sexual dimorphism strongly marked 

 in several groups. 



The second division (Polyphaga) requires subdivision ; the 

 divisions adopted by Ganglbauer are the Staphylinoidea, Diyer- 

 sicornta, Heteromera, Phytophaga, and Rhynchophora. The 

 Staphylinoidea form a fairly homogeneous group, and the wing- 

 venation is of much service in defining it, but the Diversicornia 

 are very heterogeneous ; there is hardly a single character in 

 Ganglbauer's definition that is not extremely variable in the dif- 

 ferent families comprised under it, and it is, of course, a well- 

 known fact that the real difficulty of a classification of the order 

 rests with the large series of heterogeneous forms which are 

 found in this section. As, however, Dr. Sharp has remarked, a 

 large number of these forms belong to families that are easily 

 recognized, and it is therefore best, for the present at any rate, 

 to adopt the old artificial divisions. 



The classification here adopted will then run as follows : — 



Suborder I. Adephaga. 



Suborder II. Polycerata (Polyniorplia or Polyphaga). 

 Division 1. Staphylinoidea. 

 j, 2. Clavicornia. 



„ 3. Serricornia (provisionally including 



Malacodermata) . 

 „ 4. Heteromera. 



„ 5. Phytophaga (including Longicornia). 

 „ 6. Ilhynchophora, 

 Suborder III. Lamellicornia. 



This is a combination of the systems of Ganglbauer and Sharp ; 

 it must be remembered that the divisions under Suborder II. 

 are for the most part parallel and are not arranged in linear 

 succession. 



