BOSTRYCHIDiE. 
313 
Parnid^. 
Antennce variable. Tarsi five-jointed, the last joint large ; 
prosternum produced in front to protect the mouth, 
behind to fit into the mesosternum. Aquatic. 
Small beetles, clothed in fine pubescence, found in water. They 
are seen clinging to plants, stems and other objects in running water 
for which purpose they have the enlarged tarsal joint and claws, and 
the pubescence holds a sufficiently large bubble of air to supply the 
needs of respiration. The pubescence in Parnus covers the whole body, 
which is thus set in a bubble of air, but in Elmis extends only along the 
ventral surface, to carry air to the spiracles. The family are possibly 
simply clavicorn beetles which have, from feeding on decaying vege¬ 
tation near water, become aquatic and retain the same food habits. 
Their larvae are also aquatic,wholly unknown as yet in India. 
Less than ten species are recorded, in the genera, Dry ops, Parygrus, 
Stenelmis and Sostea. Dry ops opacus, Grouv., is the common species 
found frequently at light in the plains and hills. 
Cioid,®. 
Antennce of eight to eleven joints, with a three-jointed club. 
Tarsi usually of four joints, the first small, the last 
long. Abdomen of five segments, first longest. 
Small insects of cylindrical form, uniformly coloured in deep brown 
or yellow, with small impressed points on the elytra. The beetles are 
found in corky mushrooms, usually in all stages of development to¬ 
gether. Lyctoxylon japonum, Reitt., is recorded from the Himalayas 
and Japan. 
Bostrychid^e. 
Antennce with a three-jointed club. Tarsi five-jointed, 
basal joint small, second and fifth long. 
The family is recognisable most easily by the cylindrical form, the 
produced and tuberculate prothorax in many cases, and the general 
resemblance to Scolytidce, from which they differ in the straight (not 
elbowed) antennae, in which the apical joints are often expanded on one 
side only, and in their tarsi, which are five-jointed. They are small 
