4 
MONOGRAPH OF THE 
lias been the subject of much doubt. Afzelius separated Paussus 
into a distinct fifth section of the Coleoptera, on account of its 
antennm, observing, however, that they bear so much natural 
resemblance to Clerus, that their proper place in the sj'^stematic 
arrangement will be next to that genus. With Clerus, however, 
as well as with Cerocoma, (a relation proposed by Fabricius), or 
Silpha and Hispa (as suggested by Swederus), the Paussidte can 
scarcely be said to possess a single point of relationship. Latreille 
united them, with many other groups, into a great tribe, under the 
name of Xylophaga, intermediate between the Rhyncliophorous and 
Longicorn beetles. That they are related to some of the insects 
introduced amongst the Xylophaga, appears to me to be the case; 
but, as has been proved by various later writers, many of the Xylo¬ 
phaga belong to the great division Necrophaga, into which the 
Paussidee must also enter, together with the Trogositidse and aber¬ 
rant Cucujidae, “ which last may perhaps be regarded as possessing 
the greatest affinity with the Paussidse, more particularly when 
we notice the depressed bodies, the formation of the antennae, 
and especially the pentamerous tarsi in many of the genera 
of that family, such as Catogenus, Clinidium, Rhysodes,” &c. 
Such is the opinion I expressed in my first Paper in the Linnsean 
Transactions, after a very extended series of dissections of a great 
number of allied genera of Xylophaga, and such is still my opinion 
notwithstanding Mr. MacLeay' (Annul, of S. Afr. p. 73) has given 
me credit for having been the first to suspect the affinity of 
Cryptophagus with the Paussidse, without having however expressed 
myself very clearly upon the subject. It would indeed have been 
extraordinary had I done so, because I never entertained such 
an opinion. 
^Ir. MacLeay also states that Trochoideus certainly leads off 
from the Paussidse to Myrmecoxenus, Chevr., Cryptophagus, &c., 
but in my opinion the first-mentioned genus does not possess the 
slightest relation with any of the others; in like manner the 
relationship asserted by Mr. MacLeay to exist between the 
Paussidm and Pselaphidse, seems to me equally unnatural, since no 
two groups can possess fewer points of resemblance in common. 
It would have been quite as natural to assert the relation of the 
Paussidse with the Ozenm, for the latter crepitate, their bodies 
are polished, and their elytra furnished with tubercles at the outer 
posterior angles, as in the Paussi.” 
The resemblance thus pointed out by me in 1838 has appeared 
