1892.] 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



161 



ferrugineo-testaceae, bifidae, sed fissura, nisi flectantur non apparente; 

 in medio punctum nigricans" (" P'auna Suecicae," No. 1456, p. 371)- 

 The imago, larva and pupa are figured with the June number of the 

 " Entomologist," 1882. 



(To be continued). 



THE SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF 

 THE BRrnSH COLEOPTERA. 



BY JOHN W. ELLIS, M.B. (VIc), F.E.S. 

 (Continued fvom page 141). 



The males of Heteroceviis obsoletiis and ser leans have the mandibles 

 elongate, as is also the case with Anthopliagiis nlpinus which also has 

 the head horned on each side. Pvognatha quadvicornis has the head and 

 mandibles of the male much larger than those of the female, the 

 former with two short horns between the e3^es (none in the female) ; the 

 jnandibles with long curved horns which nearly meet each other when 

 the mandibles close; while in some species of Agathidiiuii we meet 

 with a still more curious modification of the left mandible of the male. 

 In the males of A. marginatum, confusmn, varians, and globosuin the 

 left mandible is rather more strongly developed than the other; in 

 A. rotiuidatuin this organ is furnished with a small horn-like tooth, 

 projecting upwards; while in A. rhinoceros this tooth-like process has 

 become developed into a long horn curving over the head. The eyes 

 of a few beetles are more strongly developed in the males than in the 

 .other sex. Examples are: Ptiniis HcJiennni and P. /nr., Dryophiliis 

 ptisillus, Lagfia hivta, Luperns jiavtpes, and Euglenus oculatus — where the 

 eyes in the male are nearly in contact. The male glo\\-worm 

 (Lampyris noctiluca), too, has eyes much larger than his more 

 phosphorescent mate, and Canon Fowler points out the remarkable 

 fact that in those exotic species of Lampyridae where the females are 

 apterous or larviform the eyes of the males are always more greatly 

 developed, while in those species where both sexes are winged the 

 eyes are equal. There remains now only to be considere.l that 

 development of the front part of the head into a more or less 

 •elongated beak or rostrum, whicli is characteristic of the insects 

 belonging to the Rhynchophora. In by far the greater nun ber of 

 species belonging to this group the females luwe the rostrum longer 

 and more slender than tlie males; examples of such development 

 are Balaninns nuaim, in the female of whicli the rostrum c(|n .Is the 

 length of the body, most Cciithorr/iync/ii , most of the genera Apion, 

 Gymneiroii , Magdalinus, Mecinus, &c. In many of the genus Apion 



