142 



INTHODTJCTIOX. 



folded and have a longitudinal venation, which is peculiar, but is 

 nearer to that of the Staphylixoidea than of either of the other 

 groups ; there are eight visible ventral segments of the abdomen. 



The remarks of Lameere (Ann. Soc. Ent. Belgique, ix, 1900, 

 p. 358) with regard to the family are worth quoting : — 



"1. Of all the Coleoptera the family of the Lymexylides is the 

 nearest to the ancestral Neuroptera. 



2. Like the Planipennia, the Lymexylides have all the coxae 

 conical and projecting ; their tarsi and their antennae are 

 not or hardly differentiated ; in Atractocerus there are eight 



Fig. 62.— Atractocerus frontalis. 



visible ventral segments of the abdomen, the maximum 

 number found among the Coleoptera ; Hyleccetus possesses 

 the rudiment of the medial ocellus of the ancestral 

 Neuroptera. 



3. Like all survivors of primitive forms, the Lymexylides 

 present very pronounced coenogenetic characters, as, for 

 example, the development of the maxillary palpi in the 

 male." 



In his subsequent " Nouvelles notes pour la Classification des 

 Coleopteres" (Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg. 1903, p. 159) M. Lameere 

 disclaims having regarded Atractocerus as the lowest of the Coleo- 

 ptera, but he certainly seems to do so in the above-quoted 

 passage. 



