The genus Niponius has hitherto been studied only from the standpoint of the adult characters, the larva having been unknown. These characters were considered by Fowler (Fauna of British India, Coleoptera, General Introduction 1912, p. 93) probably to be worthy of family rank; to quote Fowler “The very curious genus Niponius is closely related to the Histeridae, to which family it was assigned by its discoverer, Mr. G. Lewis, but it also bears affinities to other families, and is in several ways abnormal; we have therefore regarded it, with some hesitation, as provisionally separate.” The structure of the male genital tube was studied by Sharp & Muir (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1912, p. 512) and they remark (l.c. p. 513) “The four families Histeridae, Synteliidae, Sphaeritidae and Niponiidae are so closely related by the aedeagus, that they might form one family, in which the Histeridae would include the higher developments.”