This is one of those anomalous types that little resemble the 
rest of the family, even in its fullest extent, for none of the ex- j 
otic genera appear immediately to connect it with any of the 
others. The structure of the antennae and trophi, however, 
shows the family to which it belongs, with the exception of the 
mandibles, which are notched like the Heteromera, and it is 
remarkable that the labrum is not symmetrical, as shown also 
by Mr. William MacLeay in his genus Phoberus. 
There is no portion of the globe perhaps where some spe- 
cies of Trox is not to be found, if we may judge from the ex- 
tensive range exhibited in Dejean’s Catalogue, where 40 spe- 
cies are recorded. As far as we know, they inhabit sandy 
districts, and feed upon dead animals. Latreille says they pro- 
duce a creaking noise by means of repeated and alternate fric- 
tion of the peduncle of the mesothorax, against the internal 
partitions of the cavity of the thorax ; that they keep in the earth 
or in the sand, and appear to eat the roots of vegetables. 
Our British species are: 
1. T. sabulosus Linn.— -Curt, Brit . Ent . pi. 574. S . 
Dull black, rugose, thickly and very coarsely punctured : antennae 
ferruginous: clypeus semiorbicular : thorax ciliated withochreous 
hair, except the anterior margin, with a broad groove down the 
back, and 3 or 4 foveae on each side : elytra with 5 double rows of 
foveae forming 4 elevated ridges, ornamented with small tufts of 
ochreous pubescence, leaving 2 or 3 fine elevated lines between each. 
From April to beginning of July, in Costessey Park, Nor- 
folk, under a dead animal, and in abundance in a dead Rook 
by the gravel-pits, Coomb Wood; Parley Heath and New 
Forest, Mr. Dale ; also near Portsmouth, in Cambridgeshire, 
Kent, and Devon. 
2. lutosus Marsh. 25. 40. 
“ Fuscous-cinereous, elytra with elevated striae and lines, clypeus 
marginated and acute. Length 6 lines.” 
Taken by the Rev. P. Lathbury during a flood at Liver- 
mere, Suffolk. 
3. scaber III. — scabra Linn . — arenarius Fab. — Panz. 97. 1. 
Dull black, thickly and coarsely punctured ; antennae ferruginous ; 
clypeus rounded : thorax ciliated with ferruginous hairs, having 6 
foveae, 2 forming a channel down the back, with 2 on each side : 
elytra with 4 lines of tubercles clothed with ochreous pubescence, 
with a line of minuter ones between each, as well as 2 neatly 
punctured striae : legs and sometimes the thorax dull castaneous, 
anterior tibiae slightly dilated and denticulated at the apex. Length 
3 lines. 
April, in gardens under dry bones, stones, &c., and some- 
times flying. Found in a putrid ash post, I believe, at Bot- 
tisham, Rev. L. Jenyns; May, Halifax and Scarborough; 
June in carrion on the sand-hills, Swansea, Mr. Dillwyn. 
4. arenosus Gyll. 1. 11. 2. 
“ Black, thorax unequal, elytra somewhat striated, alternate inter- 
stices with smooth tubercles, clothed with long bunches of hairs 
at the apex.” Length 3^ lines ?. 
Mr. Hewitson took a specimen at Lowestoft, Suffolk. 
The beautiful Plant figured is Menziesia polifolia (Irish 
Heath), which I gathered last July and August in Connemara, 
