are now very numerous, about 1000 being known, but they are rare in collections; in Britain we have only nine species, and some of them are now scarcely ever met with. [Illustration: Fig. 131—Larva of _Tillus elongatus_. (New Forest). A, Head; B, front leg; C, termination of the body, more magnified.] FAM. 57. LYMEXYLONIDAE.—_Elongate beetles, with soft integuments, front and middle coxae exserted, longitudinal in position; tarsi slender, five-jointed; antennae short, serrate, but rather broad._ Although there are only twenty or thirty species of this family, they occur in most parts of the world, and are remarkable on account of their habit of drilling cylindrical holes in hard wood, after the manner of Anobiidae. The larva of _Lymexylon navale_ was formerly very injurious to timber used for constructing ships, but of late years its ravages appear to have been of little importance. The genus _Atractocerus_ consists of a few species of very abnormal {255}Coleoptera, the body being elongate and vermiform, the elytra reduced to small, functionless appendages, while the wings are ample, not folded, but traversed by strong longitudinal nervures, and with only one or two transverse nervures. Owing to the destruction of our forests the two British Lymexylonidae—_L. navale_ and _Hylecoetus dermestoides_—are now very rarely met with. [Illustration: Fig. 132—_Hydrocyphon deflexicollis._ Britain. A, Larva (after Tournier); B, imago.] FAM. 58. DASCILLIDAE.—_Small or moderate-sized beetles, with rather flimsy integuments, antennae either serrate, filiform, or even made flabellate by long appendages; front coxae elongate, greatly exserted; abdomen with five mobile ventral segments; tarsi five-jointed._ This is one of the most neglected and least known of all the families of Coleoptera, and one of the most difficult to classify; though always placed amongst the Serricornia, it is more nearly allied to Parnidae and Byrrhidae, that are placed in Clavicornia, than it is to any of the ordinary families of Serricornia. It is probable that careful study will show that it is not natural as at present constituted, and that the old families, Dascillidae and Cyphonidae, now comprised in it, will have to be separated. Only about 400 species are at present known; but as nearly 100 of these have been detected in New Zealand, and 17 in Britain, doubtless the numbers in other parts of the world will prove very considerable, these Insects having been neglected on account of their unattractive exterior, and fragile structure. The few larvae known are of three or four kinds. That of _Dascillus cervinus_ is subterranean, and is believed to live on roots; in form it is somewhat like a Lamellicorn larva, but is straight, and has a large head. Those of the Cyphonides are aquatic, and are remarkable for possessing antennae consisting of a great many joints (Fig. 132, A). Tournier describes the larva of _Helodes_ as possessing abdominal but not thoracic spiracles, and