256 STAPHYLINID A. 
Of this minute species there are only two badly preserved individuals, and the sexual 
characters are very obscure; but independent of these the species will be readily 
recognized by the dark legs and the impunctate thorax. The male has two fine 
granules on the middle of the dorsal plate of the sixth segment in front of the hind 
margin ; the following segment is unusually small, and, though I have dissected it off, 
I am unable to see exactly its structure; so that any peculiarity it possesses must be 
very minute: as I have found the cedeagus, there is no doubt that this is really the 3 
male. In the other individual I can scarcely detect the minute granules, so suppose 
that it may be the female. 
5. Gyrophena sordidula. 
Subdepressa, parcius punctata, nitida, fuscescens, antennarum basi pedibusque dilute testaceis, elytrorum 
humeris abdominisque apice vage testaceis; antennis brevibus, articulis 5°-10™ transversis; prothorace 
fortiter transverso, obsolete punctato, elytris quam hic longioribus, parce obsoleteque punctatis. 
Long. 2 millim. 
Hab. Guaremana, Cerro Zunil 4000 to 5000 feet (Champion). 
Antenne rather short; third joint short; fourth very small and obscure; fifth to 
tenth strongly transverse; terminal joint short. Head short and broad, narrowed 
behind the eyes. Thorax very strongly transverse, about twice as broad as long, a little 
narrower than the elytra, with four very indistinct punctures quadrately placed on the 
disk. Elytra longer than the thorax, of a sordid or smoky colour, with the shoulders 
yellowish, sparingly punctate, the punctures indistinct. 
In the male the hind margin of the dorsal plate of the seventh ventral segment bears 
two very minute teeth distant from one another—so small that they cannot be observed 
without dissecting off the plate,—and on each, outside, a rather longer slender spine. 
I have contented myself with describing the male of this species, because certain 
individuals of the other sex may be either its female or that of a very closely allied 
species, as they have the thorax rather less transverse and the antenne quite yellow. 
It is the more doubtful whether these specimens are really the females of G. sordidula, 
because I have sufficient evidence that there occur in the same locality two other 
species very closely allied to G. sordidula. This evidence consists of two fragmentary 
males, having lost their antenne, extremely similar to G. sordidula, but with very 
different male characters; they are not in a condition for description, but make it clear 
that there are several excessively similar obscure species to be detected in the same 
locality. In addition there are fragments of a female from the Volcan de Chiriqui 
which probably pertain to another closely allied species. 
6. Gyrophzna similis. 
Subdepressa, parce punctata, nitidula, fuscescens, antennarum basi pedibusque sordide testaceis ; elytris sordide 
