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Seer were WOCtr eee eee eer orn re ea) Pererrosererreeprerer tr retry eet teers on rae tone es Ow beatae Bote spe 8a TA ANT Ace bias Ie esate. i dtatms ge Os t-mss Enea sgt afaraaee atucmtiee hi mdeegt Re Peerrr ete i wettest er irene tel Menrers iret er er clit eer ees STD Hees aah Ore wee Ate mare ertrarert wre one eaten ~ reer ee eereetetees tee tees > oe aety irr reer eee ho Ota pte rere ~ we tenn Sew ek arate a ai ul, AP bn ce edad alle ashore e sf | My ae : : i ae eh Z i, Le v U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ast 4 LIBRARY OF Henry Guernsey Hubbard AND .- aeaene Amandus Schwarz ost DONATED IN 1902 » %, Ws sy oO % RR oa My ifn Al an al GG ta fe, = ‘a | farsa ffir Cas =< el ge eh oN ae en 3 in ST cet oe a>) DY SHE oF i | “Al i ! Au if A 3 3 : 3 F \ } ! \ ae’ | i a 4 “i 7 im 2 aa Py ih iO) va come) Pia ome ees aii Hh eae o PROCEEDIN P ae oe “1; = : OF THE , AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL. SOCIETY : a HELD AT PHILADELPHIA PROMOTING USEFUL KNOWLEDGE Vol. XV. DECEMBER 1876. No. 96. PHILADELPHIA: aaa PRINTED FOURS TH EE SOCLEH' TY BY M’CALLA & STAVELY. ; 1876. {From the AMERICAN NATURALIST, Vol. ix, February, 1875.]} An ADDpDITIONAL CHARACTER FOR THE DEFINITION OF RuYN- CHOPHOROUS CoLEOPpTERA.!—On two former occasions I have invited the attention of my colleagues of the Academy to the re- lations which the Rhynchophorous Coleoptera bear to the other divisions of that order of insects. In the first of these I endeav- ored to show that they formed a group which was equivalent to all the others combined. The defining character of the group I stated to be, that the posterior lateral elements (the prothoracic epimera), of the under surface of the prothorax, coalesced on the median line, in such a manner as to form a longitudinal suture be- hind the end of the prosternum ; in all other Coleoptera? the pro- sternum ends in a vacant space, or extends so as to take part in° the articulation between the pro- and metathoracic segments. In the second memoir I attempted a sketch of the manner in which the group might be naturally divided into series and families. 1 Read before the National Academy of Sciences, at Philadelphia, Noy. 5, 1874. 2 Except in Cossyphus and a few Colydiidz. (112) ZOOLOGY. its During the progress of the investigations which wilterminate in the classification, according to the scheme there proposed, of the genera and species by which the Rhynchophora are repre- sented in our fauna, I have been led to observe an additional char- acter serving to define this great and important complex of genera. This character strengthens greatly the opinion I first announced concerning its systematic value, as an equal of all the other Cole- optera combined. On separating the head of a Rhynchophore, it is seen that the cranium (I use this word for want of a better term) is globose, and always presents a distinct trace of a median suture on the under surface corresponding with the gular sutures of other Cole- optera. In the latter, however, these sutures diverge either be- fore or behind, and rarely (Silphidze and Staphylinidze), approxi- mate at the middle of their course. Whether the differences in direction of these sutures may or may not, when carefully studied, give indications for the definition of the series into which the nor- mal Coleoptera are now divided upon other characters, I cannot now say. But this much I can assert positively, that in no other but the Rhynchophora, do the lateral elements of the under sur- face of the head coalesce on the median line, so as to form a straight longitudinal suture extending to the posterior limit of the chitinous part of the head. In most of the Coleoptera the gular sutures diverge behind, and even when they are obsolete, their posterior termination is indi- cated by a nick or irregularity in the outline of the infero-poste- rior margin of the cranium. In the Ptinide and Bostrichide, by a remarkable exception, the sutures, though distant in front, con- verge behind. It will not be in my power, for some time to come, to follow this train of investigation to its limits, and I now make known these imperfect observations in the hope of inducing observers, who are less burdened with a great mass of material urgently pressing for classification, to give some attention to the valuable characters here indicated.— J. L. LeContr, M.D. [Printed at the SALEM PRESS, February, 1875.] nas x . _ . * . < oe - ea ~ ; - pa i - : wy . Fal - & 4 ivy, \¢ ay lgn™ ¥ -s 7 ij J , fy Wy i ye r ba we ? " NG 2 wee - 0} W - vy te Pa ‘3 4 . eal > ye * coms ¥ 3 oy Se a 1a ne < fone " ' ale SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRA NUNN HA init uc. aoe one ‘ pt. 1 The rhynchophora of America north