THE LONGICORNJA. 
191 
in the excavated portion, and sometimes entirely 
dividing each eye into two parts ; their mandibles 
stout, sharp at the point, and usually large, the head 
never being produced into a rostrum in front, as in 
the ffliynchophora. The mentum is transverse and 
short, and the labium usually membranous and cor- 
date ; the palpi being moderately long and filiform, 
though sometimes short or truncated ; the elytra, 
which are broader than the thorax, do not encase the 
sides of the abdomen, which is composed of five free 
ventral segments ; the legs are long, having often 
clavate femora, with the tibiae not bearing external 
rows of spines, but distinctly spurred at the apex ; and 
the tarsi have the three basal joints clothed with a 
dense silky or spongy substance, the first and second 
joints being widened, the third strongly bilobed, gene- 
rally being divided into two rounded lappets, the 
(normal) fourth obsolete, hidden in, or soldered to 
the centre of the third, and the apical joint long, 
slender, and strongly clawed. 
They are entirely plant-frequenting insects, existing 
as larva) and pupae either in solid timber, or on the 
surface of felled logs, &c., beneath the bark ; and in 
their perfect state haunting the trunks of trees and 
bundles of dry twigs, or basking in flowers. Many of 
the gaily-coloured species delight in the hot sunshine, 
flying readily, and running with great activity up and 
down the surface of timber ; but some appear to be 
sluggish in the warmer part of the day, aud to fly 
readily towards evening, often with a humming noise. 
The females are less active than the males, beino- 
seldom seen on the wing ; they are, also, usually larger 
and heavier, and have shorter antennm, and a mox-e 
