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FAMILY—CAMPODIDiE. 195
O I Ì D E R ? - A C H R E I O P T E R A \ Westw.
In the course of the year 1868, the late Mr. H. Denny placed in my hands for examination a parasitic
insect, found upon the beaver, which seemed at first sight half-way between a flattened flea and a diminutive
cocki'oach, and which appeared to me to belong to none of the recognized Orders of hexapod Annulosa. 1
read a description of this insect with figures, under the name of Plati/psi/Uiis castoriims, before the Ashmoleau
Society of Oxford, during Michaelmas Term, November 9, 1868; but, as that Society is very dilatory in publishing
its Proceedings, I sent a short notice of the characters of the insect for publication in ' The Entomologist's
jMonthly Magazine,' which appeared on the 1st of October, 1869, vol. vi, p. 118. By a singular
coincidence, Herr Ritsema of Leyden published a notice of the same insect on the 15th of September, 1869, in
the ' Petites Nouvelles Entomolog-iques,' under the almost identical name of Plati/josi/lhs castoris, regarding
it as a flattened flea, and consequently as belonging to the family Pidieidse—an opinion which the structure
of the month proves to be untenable. Subsequently, Dr. J. Leconte, having carefully examined my specimen,
came to the conclusion that it was a Coleopterous insect (' Nature,' June 37, 1872), considering the trilobed
structure of the mentnm to resemble that of Leptinns, the lateral processes in which, however, are only narrow
spines projecting over the gnlar plate; the antenn® resembling those of Gyrinus and Parnns, other parts
exhibiting an ' unmistakable affinity' with the Staphylinida, Sdphida!, Corylophida;, and especially the genus
Limulodes of Matthews in the family Triehopterygidie, with large and dilated sterna. The same gentleman
has since obtained other specimens of the insect, and has sent a memoir on it to the Zoological Society of
London, published in the Proceedings of that Society for 1872.
The abnormal economy of the insect, its remarkable structure, the apparent want of mandibles (which
I have failed to discover, although I have dissected several specimens subsequently received in spirits thi-ough
the kindness of Herr Bitsema), om- ignorance, of its transformations, and the possibility that the creature may
be Homomorphous in the larva and pupa states, induced me and stiU induce me to hesitate in regarding it
as belonging to any of the recognized orders of insects. I therefore here provisionally retain for it the original
ordinal name which I proposed in ' The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine.'
Corpus ovale, valde depressmn, coriaceum, setigerum; os (mandibulis ?) maxillis, labio palpisque quatuor
instructum; antennsB laterales, postice reflexEe, tri-articulatiE, articulo ultimo (ut in PuHce) annulato ; prothorax
magnus, scutiformis, margine postico sinuato; mesothoracis seutellum triangulare; alie anticse eoriaecEe, planje,
venis carentes, breves, coalita, basin abdominis attingentes ; sutura recta; ala3 posticiB ohsoletaa; sterna omnia
maxima, plana; pedes cursorii (saltatorii?), tibiis calcaratis, tarsis quinque-articidatis, bi-unguieulatis; metamorphoses
ignot®; victus parasiticus in Castorem, more Pulicis.
PLATYPSYLLUS.
Caput horizontale, semi-circulare, angulis posticis sub-truncatis, antcnnis in truncatura insertis; antenna;
longitudine dimidium prothoracis iequantes, articulo basali elongate, cylindrico, secundo cyathiformi, extus
longe setoso, tertio ovaH, ex annidis octo (ut in Pidice) formato; PI. XXXVII, fig. 1 c. Clypeus ? (labrum ?)
semi-ovahs, marginem anticum planum capitis formans. (Mandibularum vestigia nulla invcni i). Maxilla; motu
transverso, lobis duobus apieahbus instructa:, externo majori, semi-ovali, iJano, apice spinuloso, extusque dense
^ Dr. Leconte states that the mandibles ai-e entirely similar to those of the Corylophidcs.
setigero, interno tennissimo, membranaceo, margine sub-spinuloso ; palpi maxillares quadriarticulati, articulo
ultimo conico (fig. 1 a) ; mentum (fig. 1 i*) oblongum, corneum, jugulo transverso antice insidens lobisque
duobus corncis lateraliter instructum (fig. 1 i f ) ; labium transversum (fig. 1 l a t e r i b u s in angulimi productis,
margine antico emarginato ; lingua sen ligula e lobis duobus tenuissimis rotundatis formata ; palpi labiales
breves, tri-articulati, eonici, scapo parvo basali transverso insidentes ; pronotum transversum, antice emarginatum,
postice seneim dilatatum, lateribus curvatis, versus ángulos anticos longitudinaliter fossulatis (pro
receptione antennarum), angulis posticis rotundatis, setis longis instruetis ; sterna tria elevata, plana, cornea,
sensim magnitudine decrescentia (haustellum maximum tri-artieulatum simulantia), lateribus setis longis instructa
; epiplcura inconspicua ; pedes robusti, compressi, cursorii, spinosi (an saltatorii ?), coxis magnis ; tarsi
quinque-articulati, unguibus duobus robustis termiuati; SXÍB anticse elytriformes, coalitie, angulis posticis rotundis,
sutura recta ; alo3 posticEe obsoletie ; abdomen semi-ovale, planimi, sex-articulatum, setosum.
PLATYPSYLLUS CASTORINUS.
PLATE XSXVII, PIGS. 1, 2.
Luteo-fulvus, nitidus ; capite punctis duohus (loco oculorum), marginum lateralinm medium versus
sulco profundo utrinque cum margine laterali parallelo, occipite postice suleo profundo sinuato, peetinato
instrueto ; pronoto utrinque serie punctorum ex angulis anticis seutellum versus extensa, alteraque cum margine
pronoti postico sinuato parallela ; abdominis segmentis singulis linea submarginali spinarum plurimarum, ut in
Pulice, supra et infra armatis ; tarsis quatuor anticis maris setis clavatis membranaceis indutis.
Long. corp. hn. l |=f e r e 4 mill.
Habitat ; parasitice in Castorem Canadensem.
O R D E R - T H T S A N U I Í A.
FAMILY—CAMPODEIDyE. Westw. (CAMPODEvE. Meinert.)
The following are the characters of this family as detailed by Dr. Meinert, of Copenhagen, in his Memoir
in the Naturliistorisk Tidsskrift, 3rd Series, vol. iii. p. 403, Annals of Nat. Hist. 3rd Ser. vol. xx. p. 365 :—
Pedes cursorii, tarsis distinctis, elongatis biungulatis ; corpus elongatum, abdomine distincte 10-articulato ;
spiracula perspicua, saltem terna ; abdominis lamina; ventrales septem priores appendiculata; ; cerei duo, e segmento
decimo, ultimo, orientes ; antenna; setacefe vel filifbrmes,
Tliis family is composed of two genera only—CAMPODEA, Westw. Trans. Ent. Soc. vol. iii. p. 231 ; and
lAPYX, Ilaliday, Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xxiv. p. 441. The former is at once distinguished by having the body
terminated by two long slender multiarticulated filiform appendages resembling a pair of anal antenna;. The
species of which it is composed are small and elongated like narrow Staphylini, but of a white or pale colour.
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