ORIENTAL ENTOMOLOGY.
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F I G U R E S 4 & 5.
CALODROMUS MELLIL GIIERIN.
( M A G . ZOOL. 1832, PL, 34. BOHEMAN ACT. HOLM. 1837. PL. 6, fig. 1—4).
Male, fig. 4. Female, fig. 5.
Calodromus rufo-testiiceus nitidus, oculis nigi'ls, rostro brevissimo lato, protliorace antice valdc compresso, pone
medium rotundato-ampliato, supra temie canaliculato impunctato ; elyti'is striatis, striis obsolete pimetiitis, inter- •
stitiis angustis pmictis remotis obsoletis iuseulptis.
Calodromus rufo-testaceous, shining, with black eyes, the rostrimi very short, bro.ad, the prothor.ax very mucli
compressed in front and swollen into a rotmded mass beyond the middle, the upper side slightly chamielled, not
punctured ; the elytra striated, tlie stria^ obsoletely punctured, with the interstices narrow and sculptm-ed witli
remote obsolete punctures.
Length of the insect 3-4 lines.
Inhabits the Philippine islands. In the Collection of the British Museum and A. Melly, Esq.
OBSERVATIONS.—The remarkable structiire of tlie liind feet of this insect and their diversity in the
opposite sexesj renders it^ notwithstanding its small size, one of the most singular species with which
we are acquainted. In both sexes the hind thighs are of the ordinarj' dilated form, bvit the following
joint or the tibia is in both reduced to a very short thick mass; whilst the basal joint of the tai-si in
the male (fig. 4), is nearly as long as the entn-e insect, dilated and deeply notched at its base and
armed near the middle with an erect spine, and with its apex produced beyond the insertion of the
remaining three joints of the tarsi. In the female (fig. 5), the basal joint of the hind tarsi is also
greatly elongated, but much broader and more regulaiiy formed. In both sexes, indeed, we might
say that the basal joint of the tai'sus had been elongated into a tibia in consequence of the real tibia
being ahnost obhterated. What can be the use of such singular structures ?
The genus is certainly very closely aUied to Taphroderes, which has the thorax similarly constructed,
and with the middle feet, as in Calodromus, much smaller than the anterior ones.
F I G U R E 6.
TAPHRODERES WHITII. WESTW.
Taphroderes niger nitidus; rostro brevi lato, piceo, prothorace antice contracto postice rotmidato-ampliato, disco
punctato ; elytris striis elevatis glabris, interstitiis pvmctatis tibiis ; tarsisque piceis.
Taphroderes blacli glossy ; the rostrum short, broad and pitchy, the antennse short with the clava thickened
and three-jointed ; the prothorax narrowed in front, the hind part swollen and tlie disc punctured ; the elytra elongate,
parallel, with shining elevated striie, the interstices between which are punctured ; the tibite and tarsi are pitchy,
the joints of the latter iiTegular.
Length of th9 insect 4 lines.
Inhabits the Philippine islands. In the Cabinet of tlie British Museum.
OBSERVATIONS.—1 am indebted to A. White, Esq., the author of numerous valualile papers on
Entomological subjects, for directing my attention to this very interesting insect in the Cabinet of tlie
British Museum placed under his charge, and whose name I have much pleasure in associating with so
cm'ious a species.
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