FAM. 80. ANTHRIBIDAE.—_Palpi usually not covered, but distinct and flexible. Antennae often long, not elbowed, the first joint not very long. Third joint of tarsus small, usually much concealed by being embraced by the second joint. Pygidium exposed; propygidium deeply grooved in the middle._ This family includes 800 or more species, which are mostly tropical; it is very sparsely represented in the faunas of Europe and North America. It is quite distinct from Curculionidae with which it was formerly associated. It contains many graceful Insects having a certain resemblance with Longicorns on account of the large development of the antennae. The habits and metamorphoses are but little known. It seems probable that many species find their nutriment in old wood or boleti The larvae of some genera (_Cratoparis_ and _Araeocerus_) have legs, but in others the legs are wanting, and the larvae are said to completely resemble those of Curculionidae. In the larva of our tiny British species, _Choragus sheppardi_, the legs are replaced by three pairs of thoracic, sac-like pseudopods. This Insect makes burrows in dead branches of hawthorn. The larvae of the genus _Brachytarsus_ have been ascertained to prey on Coccidae. [Illustration: Fig. 148—_Platyrhinus latirostris_, Anthribidae. Britain. A, the perfect Insect; B, tarsus and tip of tibia.] FAM. 81. CURCULIONIDAE (Weevils).—_The beak of very variable length and thickness; the palpi small, nearly always concealed within the mouth, short, and rigid. Labrum absent. Antennae of the majority elbowed,_ i.e. _with the basal joint longer, and so formed that when it is laterally extended the other joints can be placed in a forward direction._ This enormous family includes {291}about 20,000 known species, and yet a large portion of the species yearly brought from the tropics still prove to be new. The rostrum or beak exhibits excessive variety in form, and is in many cases different in the sexes; in this case it is usually longer and thinner in the female. As the rostrum is one of the chief characters by which a member of the family may be recognised, it is necessary to inform the student that in certain forms (the Australian Amycterides, _e.g._) the organ in question may be so short and thick that it is almost absent. In these cases the Insect may be identified as a Curculionid by the gular area being absent on the under side of the head, and by the concealment of the palpi. The tarsi are usually of the same nature as those of Phytophaga, already described, but the true fourth joint is less visible. In the Brachycerides this joint is not present, and the third joint is not lobed. The palpi are flexible and more or less exserted in a very few species (Rhynchitides); in Rhinomacerides there is also present a minute labrum. The front coxae are deeply embedded, and in many forms the prosternum is peculiar in structure; the side-pieces (epimera) meeting at the back of the prosternum in the middle line.