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518 . 
SPTLERIDIUM QUADRIMACULATUM. 
Order Coleoptera. Fam. Sphaeridiidae. 
Type of the Gems, Dermestes scarabseoides Linn. 
Speueridium Fab., Oliv., Gyll., Curt. — Dermestes Linn., Mars. 
Antennae inserted under the margin of the head, at the base of 
the mandibles, short clavate and 8 -jointed, basal joint long, 
incrassated at both ends, and bent at the base, 2nd subovate, 
3rd very small cup-shaped, 4th and 5th very short and saucer- 
shaped, the latter the largest, the remainder forming a large 
velvety club, the 6th joint somewhat cup-shaped, 7th transverse, 
8th similar in shape at the base, with the apex produced on 
one side, rounded and excavated (6). 
Labrum short, very broad and densely ciliated (1). 
Mandibles curved and acute at the apex, with a densely ciliated 
membranous margin on the inside (2). 
Maxillae terminated by a bifid pubescent lobe, with another 
ciliated one lower down on the inside, having a pencil of hairs 
above it. Palpi longer than the maxillae and 4 -jointed, basal 
joint minute, 2nd stout and a little longer than the 3rd, which 
is clavate, 4th shorter fusiform-truncate (3). 
Menturn transverse subquadrate, anterior margin transparent, 
the angles rounded. Palpi attached to short scapes beneath the 
anterior margin of the menturn, short and triarticulate, basal 
joint minute, 2nd elongate subovate, hairy at the apex, 3rd 
slender and oval. Lip short, gradually but rather deeply 
notched in the centre, the margin ciliated with long hairs (4) . 
Head nearly orbicular : eyes small lateral and placed near the base, 
frequently immersed. Thorax hemispherical, concave before , convex 
at the base ; sternum forming a spine behind : scutellum elongate- 
trigonate. Elytra subovate, truncated at the base : wings ample. 
Legs rather short : thighs elongate-ovate and compressed : tibiae 
armed with stout spines, and furnished with strong spurs at the apex: 
tarsi nearly as long as the tibice, slender and simple in the female, 
5 -jointed, anterior pair with the first 4 joints very short in the male, 
5th large and dilated towards the apex, terminated by a strong hooked 
claw, and a smaller one with a horny dilated appendage between them 
(5, afore leg, a, the tarsus detached to show the joints), in the other 
tarsi the basal joint is the longest, the 2nd 3rd and 4th being very 
short, and the terminal one long and clavate. 
Quadrimaculatum Mars. var. — Curt. Guide, Gen. 116. 3. 
In the Author s and other Cabinets. 
The Sphaeridia are not only similar in appearance to the 
Hydrophilidae, but are so closely allied in structure, that 
nothing can be more natural than their association in a linear 
arrangement : in the form of the antennae, the trophi, and 
