COLEOPTERA. 
517 
the thorax nearly orbicular, and the spurs of the tibiae of ordinary size. The species are found in Europe, the 
equatorial parts of the New World, India, and Australia. [The type, Silpha littoralis, Fabr., is a very common 
I English insect.] 
I Others of this subdivision have the body oval or ovoid, with the head not, or scarcely, narrowed behind, and 
I narrower than the thorax, which is nearly semicircular ; the elytra are rounded, or slightly emarginate at the tip 5 
the legs scarcely dilfer in the sexes, and the maxillas have an inner horny tooth. 
Silpha^ Linn., has thebody nearly shield-shaped, depressed, with the thorax semicircular and the palpi filiform. Tlie 
majority reside in [and feed upon] carcases, and thus diminish the quantity of obnoxious vapour which they emit. 
Some creep upon the stems of plants, especially of corn on which small Snails have crawled, in order to devour 
these animals ; others mount high trees to feed on Caterpillars. Their larvae are equally active, live in the same 
manner, and are often found collected in great numbers. They bear much resemblance to the perfect insect ; the 
body is depressed, composed of twelve segments, with the posterior angles acute, the extremity of the body being 
narrowed, and terminated by two conical apppendages. In the majority of the species the two anterior tarsi of the 
males are alone more dilated than the rest. The species with the extremity of the antennai distinctly perfoliated 
or with transverse joints, forming a sudden club, with the elytra notched at the tips, forms Leach’s genus Thana- 
tophilus {S. sinuata, Fab., &c.), whilst those with similar antennae, but with the elytra entire, form his genus 
Oiceoptoma (type S. thoracica, Linn., of a black colour, with the thorax red, silky, and with three elevated lines ; is 
chiefly found in woods.) Those species which have the antennae perfoliated, but with the club gradually formed, 
are retained under the generic name of Silpha by Leach. They are generally found in fields, on the borders of | 
paths, &c.: example, Silphalcevigata, Fab.; shining black, with the thorax much narrowed in front, and the elytra ; 
without elevated lines : S. obscura,\Arm., S. reticulata, Linn., &c. In some the terminal joints of the antennae [ 
j are globular and not perfoliated ; these form the genus Phosphuga of Leach : ex. S. atrata, Fab., &c. ' 
A German species {S. subterranea, Illig.), having the four anterior tarsi alike dilated at the base in the males, [ 
j and the five terminal joints of the antennae forming a perfoliated club, may be formed into another subgenus, Necro- ; 
I philus, Latr. ! 
Agyrtes, Froehl., has the body thick, convex above, not shield-like, thorax nearly square, and the edge of the [ 
elytra not margined. A. castaneus, Gyll. | 
Those Clavicornes which appear to us to approach Agyrtes, both in respect to their characters and I 
habits, hut which have the mandibles notched or bidentate at the tip, form the fourth tribe, Scaphidites. i 
Their tarsi have five distinct and entire joints, the body is oval, narrowed at both ends, convex above, i 
thickened in the middle, with the head low, and received posteriorly in a trapezoidal thorax. The ! 
antennse are generally as long as the head and thorax, and terminated by an elongated 5-jointed mass; 
the legs are long and slender. Except in the Cholevse, the tarsi are identical in the sexes. This tribe 
consists of the genus 
SCAPHIDIUM, Oliv. 
Scaphidium proper, has the five terminal joints of the antennae nearly globular, and forming the club. The 
maxillary palpi are but little porrected, and terminate gradually in a point ; the body is navicular, and the elytra 
truncate. They reside in boleti. Few species are known, one inhabiting Cayenne, the others the north of Europe. 
[S. quadrimaculatum, a very pretty and rare British species ; black shiny, with four red spots on the elyti-a.] 
Cholera, Latr., has the club of the antennae composed of more or less perfoliated joints; the maxillary palpi are 
much exposed, and suddenly terminated like an awl ; body ovoid, thorax flat ; the four basal joints of the anterior 
and the basal joint of the intermediate tarsi are dilated as in the males of some species. {Catops blapoides. Germ.) 
In Choleva proper, the antennae are about as long as the head and thorax, the eighth joint is evidently shorter 
than the preceding and following, and sometimes scarcely distinct, and the last is pointed. In Mylcechus, Latr., 
Catops, Payk., Gyll., the antennae are shorter, the eighth joint being longer than the preceding, and the last 
rounded at the tip. (See the monograph on Choleva, by W. Spence, published in the Transactions of the Linncean 
Society of London.) 
The fifth tribe, Nitidularice, approaches the Silphales in the shield-shaped, margined body, but the 
mandibles are bifid at the tips, the tarsi appear only 4-jointed, the basal and following joint in some 
being only visible on the under-side ; the penultimate joint in others is very small, nodose, and hidden 
between the lobes of the preceding ; the club of the antennae is always perfoliated, and composed of 
three or two joints, and generally short, or but little elongated. The palpi are short and filiform, the 
elytra short and truncated in some species. The habitation of these insects varies according to the species, 
being found in flowers, boleti, fungi, waste victuals, and under the bark of trees. They form the genus 
Nitidula. 
Colobicus, Latr., has the club of the antennae only 2-jointed ; the front of the head is produced like a semicircular 
clypeus, covering the mandibles and other parts of the mouth ; the tarsi appear only 4-jointed, the real basal joint 
being only visible on the under-side. 
All the other Nitidulaires have the antennae terminated by a 3-jointed club, and the front of the head is not pro- 
duced over the mouth. 
Thymalus, Latr., agrees with Colobicus in having the basal joint of the tarsi very short, and the three following 
long and entire. In the nearly hemispherical species (T. limbatus), the club of the antennae is shorter. 
