154 



INTRODUCTION. 



markings on the prcfhotum, which are considered by some writers 

 to be scare- organs, but this hardly seems probable. 



The Cebrionin^e, at first sight, are quite distinct from the rest 

 of the Elaterid^e and have for long been considered as a separate 

 family. Cebrio gigas is, superficially, more like a Lamellicorn 

 than an Elaterid. Lacordaire defines 

 the subfamily however as being Elater- 

 id^e without the power of leaping and 

 with the legs formed for digging, and this 

 sums up their leading characteristics. 

 They are very abnormal in their habits. 

 The earlier stages of C. gigas are passed 

 in the ground, from which the males 

 emerge in large numbers, at a certain 

 period in clamp weather ; while the 

 females, which are wingless, remain in 

 the ground, near the surface, protrud- 

 ing only the posterior portion of the 

 body, and in this position are fertilised 

 by the males. The latter have their 



Fig. 67. Alaus speciosus. surface pubescent, while the females are 



(Natural size.) glabrous, or nearly so, as might be ex- 



pected from their manner of life. The 

 larvae have much in common with those of the ElaterintE, but 

 differ in several respects, notably in the atrophied first legs, the 

 form of the prothorax, and the absence of any anal process. 



The Elaterid.e are widely distributed throughout the world, 

 and are well represented in India by about fifty or sixty genera, 

 which belong almost entirely to the ElaterinvE ; there are very 

 few EucnemintE, and the other groups are not represented. 

 Several European genera occur, among them La con, Megapenthes, 

 Elater, Cardiophorus, Melanotics, and Atlious ; among the most 

 conspicuous Indian species are those belonging to Campostemus 

 and Alaus. 



Family 70. THEOSCID^. 



Antennas inserted on the front, received in grooves beneath, 

 eleven-jointed, sometimes serrate, sometimes with a loose three-jointed 

 club; prosternum with an anterior lobe protecting the mouth, and 

 tuith a jiat process behind ivhich is received into the mesosternum ; 

 prothorax closely articulated with the mesothorax ; anterior and 

 middle coxos small, anterior coxal cavities open behind, the coxae being 

 enclosed by the prosternum and the mesosternum ; elytra entirely 

 covering the abdomen ; abdomen with Jive visible ventral segments, 

 closely connected, but not connate ; legs short, retractile, tarsi 

 Jive-jointed, one or more of these joints being furnished beneath ivith 

 a membranous lobe. 



