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Show 534 INSECTA. , with shorter antennre, thickest, and almost serrated at the extre. mity(t). In those that inhabit France, such as the N. rut a, L.; or the Lepture a etuis ttrangUs, Geoff.· Ib ':!' ' ., 74 ' i, 6, the antennre are filiform and as long as the body(2). Those in which the elytra are short and squamiform will constitute the subgenus N EOYDALIS proper, Which cort·esponds to the genus Molorchus of Fabricius. Its type is the Necydalis major of Linmeus and Gcofft·oy-Oliv. lb. J, 1, Found in old Willows in June and July(3). Certain Insects generally proper to the African islands, New Holland, New Ireland and New Zealand, ambiguous in several respects, and which, in a natural order, should per· haps be placed between the Lamiari:e and the Lepturetre, will terminate the division of the Ceram bycini. Their palpi are almost filiform, the last joint almost cylin· drical and somewhat attenuated towards the base; their tho. rax is usually smooth or bnt slightly uneven, without acute tubercles, and becomes widened posteriorly, or presents the form of a trapezium or truncated cone, as in the last tribe of this family; the abdomen in the greater number is almost in the form of a reversed triangle, and the elytra are truncated at the extremity. These Insects form four genera. DisTICIIOCERA, Kirby. Where the antennre of the males are gradually dilated towards the extremity, and their joints, from the third, a1·e forked Ol' divided into two branches at the end( 4). (1) See the Entom. Bras., Klug. . (2) The N ecydales atra and prreusta, Fab., and the N . femo·rata of Germar, are analogous. · (3) See Fahric!us, Olivier, KlUg, Kirby, and Schrenherr. The Stenocorus ltemipterus of Fabricius, which should apparently be placed here in a natur(tl order, approximates more closely to the Stenocori of Germar and De· jean. (4) Kirby, Lin. Trans., XII, xxiii, 10. COLEOPTERA. 535 TMESISTERNus, Lat. Wher·e the antennre are simple, setaceous, and longer than the body; the thorax is lobate posteriol'ly, and the pt·resternum prolonged behind, truncated, and received into the emargination of the mesos-ternum( 1 ). TnAGOCEnus, Dej. Where there is no prresternal projection; the antennre are filiform, a little shot·tcr than the body and somewhat serrated; the thorax is unequal, slightly sinuous laterally, and the elytra form a large squar·e(2). LEPTOCERA, Dej. Where the prresternal projection is also wanting; but the antennre are setaceous and much longer than the males; the thorax is smooth and in the form of a truncated cone, and the abdomen and the elytra are almost triangular(3). The Longicornes of our third tribe, that of the LAMIARI1E, are distinguished by their vertical head, and by their pal pi, which are filiform or hardly larger at the extremity, and terminated by a joint more or less ovoid and tapering to a point. The outer lobe of the maxillre is slightly narrowed at the end, and curved on the inner division. The antennre are most frequently setaceous and simple, and the thorax, exclusive of the lateral tubercles or spines, is nearly of' an equal width throughout. Some species are apterous, a character exhibited by no other division of this family. This tribe is com posed of the genera Lamia and SajJerda of Fabricius, of some of his Stenocori, and of the Colobothere of Count Dejean, as well as several of his Cerambyces; but I have not yet succeeded in detecting characters which clearly separate the first of these genera from the following one. (1) Undescribed Insects from New Holland which are closely related to the Callidia variegatum, lineatum, and sulcatum, Fab. (2) Dej., Catal., iii. (3) Cerambyx scriptus, L., Isle of France. For these genera, see the Trans. Lin. Soc., and Donovan's work on New Holland Insects. |