BUPRESTIDvE. — ELATERIDiE. 



151 



b. Scutellum at most moderate, never 

 enlarged in front or acuminate be- 

 hind ; men turn strongly transverse ; 

 poriferous foveas terminal or in- 

 ferior BlJPRESTINiE. 



B. Front narrowed at the insertion of the 

 antennas ; eyes strongly oblique and 

 closely approaching one another on 



the upper surface Chrysobothrin^}. 



ii. Lateral branches of the mesosternum very 

 short and set back on the sides, or in- 

 visible. 



1. Front narrowed at the insertion of the 



antennas ; antennal cavities very large 

 and situated at a considerable distance 

 from the eyes ; posterior coxas not 

 dilated on their inner side, with their 

 posterior margins horizontal and slightly 

 sinuate ; poriferous foveas terminal. 



A. Base of pronotum more or less sinuate. Agrilin^e. 



B. Base of pronotum straight Mastogenin^:. 



2. Front not narrowed at the insertion of the 



antennas ; antennal cavities moderate 

 and situated near the eyes ; posterior 

 coxas dilated on their inner side, their 

 posterior margin oblique ; poriferous 

 foveas variable Stigmoderinje. 



A very considerable number of genera are represented in India, 

 some of them being, through their bright and conspicuous appear- 

 ance, very well known even to the casual observer. 



Family 69. ELATERIDiE. 



Antennce inserted on the front in grooves, or under the margin of 

 the front, serrate, pectinate or filiform ; prothorax with the posterior 

 angles usually produced, sometimes strongly so ; prosternum with a 

 process behind, received into a cavity of the mesosternum ; anterior 

 coxal cavities open behind, but entirely prosternal ; legs short, often 

 retractile ; tarsi five-jointed, simple or lobed beneath, claivs simple, 

 toothed or pectinate ; posterior coxa? ivitli a plate partly or completely 

 covering the femora (except in the Cerophy tinas ) ; abdomen with five 

 (rarely six) visible segments, the terminal one only being feebly 

 moveable. 



A satisfactory classification of this group has been regarded by 

 some of the chief authors as almost hopeless *. Lacordaire and 



* Lacordaire (Hist. Nat. Ins. iv, p. 136), in speaking of this says that 

 difficulties of classification are usually caused by the great homogeneity of the 

 species ; in the ElateriDjE, on the contrary, they arise from the extreme 

 variability of all the organs ('except those of the mouth) added to a general 

 form which is only modified within very narrow limits. 



