130 
THE ORDER OF COLEOPTERA. 
Family LVII. BRENTHIILE. 
This, like the preceding family, might he regarded, more properly 
perhaps, as one of the sub-families of the Curculionidae. It agrees with 
them in the important characters of the elongated snout, the undevel- 
oped labrum and palpi, and the spongy and usually bilobed tarsi. It 
60 ) differs from the great majority of them 
in its non-elbowed antenna;, and the 
uniform absence of the minute terminal 
joint, which forms a twelfth or super- 
numerary joint in the antennae of many 
of the Curculionidae ; and also in the 
greatly elongated form of the body, 
especially in some of the foreign spe- 
cies. The family is considerably nu- 
merous, upwards of six hundred species 
being known to exist in cabinets, most 
male beetle : d, head of male do.; /-f leg and 01 which are found 111 tropical regions. 
lioad parts of larva; m. end of body of pupa-, T i j i • i • • 1 
dorsal view-after Riley. 1 1 Indeed only a single species is known 
to inhabit the continent of Europe, and but three species are found in 
North America, north of Mexico, and of these only one inhabits the 
more northern parts of the United States. This is the species com- 
monly known as the Northern Brenthian, which is figured in all its stages 
in the accompanying cuts. Much interest has become attached to this 
species from its being the only one of the Brenthian family whose lar- 
val history has been traced, and also from the uncertainty in which this 
history has been involved. In a Report upon the Insects of Massachu- 
setts, published in 1838, Dr. T. W. Harris gave a history of the habits 
of this insect, together with a description of certain larva: found in com- 
pany with the perfect insects, and communicated to him by the Rev. L. 
W. Leonard of Dublin, New Hampshire. As these larva} were likewise 
accompanied by pup® having the charapteristic snout of the Brenthian, 
bent down between the forelegs, it seemed to be almost demonstrated 
that the insect in all its stages was here exhibited. But as these larvae 
departed widely from the Curculionide type, in having well developed legs, 
and an anal proleg, subsequent authors have generally held the opinion 
that some mistake must have occurred in the matter. These doubts have 
recently been cleared up in Mr. Riley’s Sixth Annual Report upon the 
Insects of Missouri. It therein appears, from specimens communicated 
to the author by Mr. Win. R. Howard, of Forsyth, Missouri, that the 
larvae of Brenthus do not differ essentially from other Curculionide 
larvae. Mr. Riley concludes that the larvae sent to Dr. Harris by Mr. 
Leonard, must have appertained to some one of the Tenebrionidie; sim- 
