74 
THE ORDER OF COLEOPTERA. 
Sub-family TACHYPOKEDES. 
In addition to the characters given in the table, we may add that the 
tibia) are strongly beset with spines, which distinguishes them not only 
from the Aleocharides but from nearly all the species in the other sub- 
families except the Oxytelides. The abdomen also is often bordered 
and terminated with divergent spines. The an ten me are inserted under 
the sides of the face, behind the mandibles, and are generally slightly 
thickened towards the tip. They are considerably numerous, fifty-seven 
hi. A. species having been described. A few of them are of medium 
size, but the great majority are considerably 7 less than a quarter of an 
inch in length. They are usually shining black, with the elytra often 
tinted with dark red, rarely inclining to yellow, but this is a style of 
coloration which is very prevalent in the whole family of Staphylinidm. 
It has been observed that the species of this sub-family never turn their 
abdomens upwards, as is so generally done by the Aleocharides and 
some other Stapliylinidse. They inhabit fungi, boleti, dung and other 
decayed matter. Some are found under dead bark. The following 
table exhibits the principal genera into which this group has been di- 
vided : 
A. Antennas eleven jointed ; tarsi five jointed ; si/e various. 
JB. Elytra longer than the thorax, minutely and irregularly punctured. 
C. Abdomen with a narrow margin ; surface glabrous. 
D. Bodj" oblong, somewhat depressed, moderately tapering, maxillary palpi filiform ; length 
from one-eighth to moro than a quarter of an inch Taciiinub. 
D D. Body short, convex, abruptly tapering; maxillary palpi sometimes swollen, subulate or 
pointed at the end; length less than an eighth of an inch TACHYronus. 
C C. Abdomen without a margin ; surface finely pubescent, form conical, si/e small . ..Conosoma. 
B B. Elytra about as long as thorax ; smooth or with three rows of punctures. 
E. Maxillary palpi filiform ; length from an eighth to more than a third of an inch : 
Bolbtohiub. 
E E. Maxillary palpi swollen, subulate at tip, size small MYCF/roroiiUB. 
A A. Antenme ten jointed ; tarsi four jointed ; size extremely small HYrocYi’TUb 
Tacliinus, Grav., meauiug sivift, and Bolctobius, Leach, meaning liv- 
ing in boleti, contain, as 'seen by the table, all the larger species, but 
they vary much in size. Conosoma, Kraatz, contains but three species, 
about a tenth of an inch or a little more in length. They resemble 
Tacbyporus in the convex conical shape of the body, but they are finely 
pubescent or silky on the surface, and the abdomen is rounded at the 
sides, without the narrow sharp margin which is common to all the 
other genera. Mycetoporus, Mann, is very closely allied to Boletobius, 
but the species are usually smaller, and more linear in their form. The 
names of the two genera mean essentially the same thing, Hypocyptus, 
Schup., contains the smallest species in the family of Staphylinidse, and 
some of the smallest in the order of Coleoptera, or in the class of insects, 
being about the twenty -fifth of an inch in length, and some of them not 
more than a fiftieth. The generic name is derived from the Greek lmpo— 
