56 



INTRODUCTION. 



Horn in his valuable monograph, " On the genera o£ Carabib^e 

 with special reference to the fauna of Boreal America " (Trans. 

 Amer. Ent. Soc. xv, 1888, p. 10J), says that this genus is one of 

 the most remarkable exceptions in the entire family. It is plainly 

 by its structure otherwise allied to the Tritncatipennes series but 

 the mesosternal epimera reach the coxae ; nor does the exception 

 end here, as the metasternal episterna also form part of the outer 

 side of the coxal cavity, a character otherwise unknown in the 

 Adephaga outside the Dytisci eomplicati. It is obvious therefore 

 that the Mormolycinje, although only containing one genus and 

 three species (from the Malay Archipelago and Peninsula), must 

 form a separate tribe or subfamily, and I was just about to make this 

 arrangement when I found that Dr. Sharp had previously adopted 

 it. The larvae of Mormolyce appear to be truly Carabideous. 



The Pseudomorphin^e form another quite aberrant group ; they 

 are utterly unlike the Carabid.e in facies, presenting an even 

 outline like the Gyrinid^e or some of the broad oval Nitidttlld^e 

 or SiLPHiDiE ; they have, however, no affinity, except outward 

 form, with any of these families. In the mesosternal structure 

 they resemble the Harpalih2E, from which they are distinguished 

 by the fact that the head is furnished underneath on each side 

 with a deep groove for the reception of the whole or part of the 

 antennae. Lacordaire records eighteen species from North 

 America, Brazil, and Australia ; at present about one hundred 

 species are known. 



We quote Dr. Sharp's table (Cambridge Natural History, vi, 

 p. 206, 1899), taken partly from Dr. Horn, as it appears to us to 

 be the best general division of the Carabidve that has yet appeared. 



1. Middle coxal cavities enclosed externally by the junction 



of the meso- and metasternimi ; neither epimeron nor 

 episternum attaining the cavity. 

 Head beneath, with a deep groove on each side near the 

 eye for the reception of the antennae or a part thereof. 



Sub-fam. 3. Pseudomorphin-s:. 



Head without antenna! grooves. Sub-fam. 2. Harpalin^:. 



2. Middle and coxal cavities attained on the outside by the 



tips of the episterna and epimera. 



Sub-fam. 4. Mormolycinje. 



3. Middle coxal cavities attained on the outside by the tips 



of the epimera but not by those of the episterna. 



Sub-fam. 1. Carabine. 



These sub-families, as Dr. Sharp observes, are very uneven, the 

 Harpalin^e containing 10,000 or more species, the Carabine 

 2000, the Pseudomorphin.e 100, and the MormolycinvE 3. 



The subdivision of the great series of the Harpali]sle has, of 

 course, given rise to much controversy, and is very far from being 

 settled. Horn separates them into two great sections, the Har- 

 palince bisetoso? in which the head has two supra-orbital setigerous 

 punctures, and the Harpalince unisetosce in which the head has only 



