148 
Psyche 
[June 
tain of these genera ( Cerylon , Philothermus, Lapethus ) are far from 
being understood. Sen Gupta and Crowson (1973) divide the group 
into three tribes: Lapethini, Cerylonini, and Aculagnathini. Mem- 
bers of the first group are distinguished by the oval or globose form 
and the presence of lateral antennal cavities on the anteroventral 
portion of the pronotum; three genera are included at present, but 
two of these are synonymized below. The remaining genus Lapethus 
is closely related to certain Cerylonini, and the larvae are more 
similar to those of Philothermus than the latter are to the larvae 
of Cerylon. 
The Aculagnathini are a diverse group which have one feature in 
common — the possession of piercing mouthparts. In the Indo-Aus- 
tralian genus Cautomus and its relatives, the prosternum is raised in 
the middle, so that a shallow antennal cavity is formed on either 
side, and the dorsal surface of the body is relatively simple. The 
Asian and African Axiocerylon, Dolosus, and Thyroderus, on the 
other hand, are characterized by having the prosternum produced 
forward to form a chin-piece, which fits against the clypeus to con- 
ceal the mouthparts, and by the possession of deep antennal cavities, 
tlytral ridges, and pronotal grooves. In both of the above groups, 
the labrum tapers to a sharp point, and a tube is formed to contain 
the mandibular and maxillary stylets (see p. 134). In the New 
World, Cerylcautomus floridensis resembles the Cautomus group in 
having shallow median antennal cavities and an acute labrum, but 
this species differs in the 1 -segmented (instead of 2-segmented) 
antennal club. In Central America and the West Indies, a number 
of undescribed forms have been seen which resemble C. floridensis 
in most respects, but which vary considerably in the development of 
those characters considered to be diagnostic of the Cautomus group 
or of aculagnathines in general. In one case, the antennal cavities 
are absent and the labrum is elongate but not acute or tube-like, 
while in another the antennal cavities are well-developed but the 
mouthparts are not at all of the piercing type. Finally, the South 
American Glyptolopus resembles a large member of the Axiocerylon 
group, but the characteristic chin-piece and antennal cavities are 
absent, the antennae are 3-segmented, and the labrum is not acute. 
The great variation within this tribe, the existence of a number of 
forms with intermediate types of mouthparts, both within the tribe 
and within cerylonine genera, such as Ectomicrus , and the occurrence 
of piercing beaks in the lapethines and in cerylonine larvae, all sug- 
gest that the Aculagnathini may be polyphyletic and that the diag- 
nostic piercing type of mouthparts may have arisen independently in 
