STAPHYLINOIDEA. 



71 



ii. Gular sutures and lateral sutures of the pro-thorax 

 obsolete ; head usually (but not always, e. g., 

 Antheibidje and Scolytid^e) prolonged into a 

 rostrum ; tarsi as in the Phytophaga (except 

 in one or two instances, such as Dryophihorus 

 and Anoplus). Rhynchophora, p. 189. 



The weakest point of the above table is the distinction between 

 the Clavicoenia and Serricoknia ; but in the absence of a 

 satisfactory alternative, this purely artificial division is here 

 adopted for convenience' sake. The venation of the wings, as we 

 have said before, tends to break down in some of the groups, 

 especially in the Rhy]n t chophora, although on the whole it is very 

 useful. ■ 



Division I. STAPHYLINOIDEA. 



This group is distinguished by having the wing-venation 

 belonging to the second type, which differs from the first in 

 having no areola oblonga and from the third in not having the 

 median vein recurved into a loop behind the middle (pp. 40, 41). 

 The smaller forms often have the venation much reduced, and in 

 one or two genera the wings are altogether wanting. The antennae 

 are simple, filiform, subfiliform, slightly thickened towards the 

 apex or distinctly clavate, but never lamellate ; the number of 

 the tarsal joints is variable ; the testes are follicular, but sessile 

 and not stalked, and the male genital organs possess two pairs of 

 accessory glands ; there are four Malpighian tubes. According 

 to G-anglbauer the larvae are campodeiform, or not far removed 

 from that type, but never maggot-shaped or vermiform ; certain 

 of the larvae of the HisteridvE, however, are much more maggot- 

 shaped than campodeiform. 



The wing venation in this division is fairly homogeneous, and 

 the division as a whole appears to be a natural one, although, as 

 in all such cases, there are certain transitional families. 



Key to the Indian Families. 



I. Elytra much abbreviated, leaving the greater 

 part of the abdomen exposed (except in 

 certain Omaliin^e) ; dorsal segments of 

 the abdomen mostly corneous. 



i. Abdominal segments flexile ; size very 



variable ; tarsal joints varying in 

 number, but nearly always more than 



three Staphylinidae, p. 72. 



ii. Abdominal segments partly connate ; size, 



as a rule, very small ; tarsi three-jointed. Pselaphidae, p. 80. 



