NECKOPHAGA AND THEIK ALLIES. 
143 
by Redtoubacber and Lacordaire among the Byrrhidse, 
assigned by Erichson to the Ptlnid;r > and by Latreillc 
to the Dermestidsn, and latterly erected by Thomson 
into a family, the Conipoiidie, and placed by him in the 
Xylophagi, between Dorcatoma and Sphindus (the last 
a genus of somewhat uncertain position), — is now, as a 
rule, classed with the present family. Its tarsi are 
slender and heteromerous (the first joint of the hinder 
pair being obsolete), with the apical joint almost as 
long as all the rest ; the legs are not retractile ; the an- 
tennas ten-jointed, the two first joints being swollen, 
and the club elongate ; the clypeus large, and with a 
distinct suture ; the maxillas with a horny tooth ; the 
prosternuijn with no projection behind the anterior 
coxre, but applied against the sloping mesosternum ; 
the middle and hinder coxas widely distant ; and the 
abdomen with five segments, of which the first is 
much the largest. The only known species, A. orbi- 
culatus, is very small, convex, delicately pubescent, 
black, with the legs and antennas (except the club) 
ferruginous, and the elytra punctate striate. It is 
rare, and found in sandy places, on low plants. 
The Geouysstd.e (comprising one genus and species, 
which is very small, apterous, and almost globular) 
have the antennas of nine joints, of which the three 
last forma club; the prosternum membranous; the 
front aud middle legs close to each other ; the anterior 
coxas projecting and approximated, the intermediate 
oval, and the posterior transverse, the two latter pairs 
being widely separated between themselves ; and the 
tarsi slender and four-jointed. 
Qeoryssus pygmieus is found in wet places, especially 
on the sea-coast ; it often burrows in the ground, and 
