SCOLYTIDJE. 



oval papal chamber, from which the imago escapes by gnawing 

 a night-hole. Besides these holes others are made at intervals 

 along the * mother-galleries ' for ventilation. 



" In the solid- wood-borers the females alone make the entrance- 

 holes, which lead sometimes to tangential galleries from which the 

 larval galleries start, as in Trypodendron ; or they form a series of 

 repeatedly bifurcating passages, as in Xyleborus, in which larvae, 

 pupae, and immature beetles occur together. In the second case 

 there are no larval galleries, and the larvae appear to feed on 

 sappy exudations or on the mycelium of a fungus growing on the 

 walls. In the solid-wood-boring forms pupal chambers and flight- 

 holes are not found, the iinagos emerging by the entrance-tunnel. 

 In certain genera, as Xyleborus, the males are apterous, and do 

 not quit the tree in which they are bred : here they fertilize the 

 females immediately after metamorphosis." 



The Platypiisve are sometimes regarded as a distinct family. 

 As Dr. Sharp has shown (I.e. p. 295), they are the most aberrant 

 of all Bhynchophora, the head being remarkably short and flat 

 in front, with the mouth placed on the under surface of the head ; 

 there is no trace of a rostrum ; the tarsi are very slender and 

 elongate, with the third joint not lobed and the true fourth joint 

 visible. The life-history of Platypus cylindrus has been fully 

 worked out by Dr. Algernon Chapman (Ent. Monthly Magazine, 

 viii, pp. 103-132). The genus Platypus is for the most part 

 exotic, and is represented by several species in the Indian region, 

 particularly in Ceylon. Eetainiug the PlatypenvE as a subfamily 

 only, the Scolvtidje may thus be divided :— 



I. First tarsal joint much shorter than the remaining 



joints united ; sides of prothorax not emarginate for 

 the reception of the legs ; head never broader than 

 prothorax Scolytin^:. 



II. First tarsal joint almost as long as the remaining 

 joints united ; sides of prothorax emarginate for the 



reception of the legs ; head broader than prothorax. Platypinje. 



The two following families, the Aglycyderid^ and Prote- 

 ehustid.e, are ol uncertain position. They are both placed doubtfully 

 by Ganglbauer under the Bhynchophora, whereas Kolbe assigns 

 the former a position between the Mycetophagid^e and Catopro- 

 chotidj-; on the one hand and the A dimerid^e and Colydiid.e on the 

 other, and places the latter without question under Rhynchophora. 

 As a matter of fact Ayly cyder es cannot be forced into any group, 

 and the 3-jointed tarsi appear to preclude it from being regarded 

 as a Curculionid. The same applies to Proterhhms, but in this case 

 the female has a distinct rostrum and presents a decidedly Ehyn- 

 ehophorous appearance. It is, however, best to consider both as 

 abnormal, in the present state of our knowledge. Neither of them 

 is represented in the Indian fauna. 



