OXYPORUS.—OSORIUS. 677 
1. Oxyporus mexicanus. (Tab. XVIII. fig. 1.) 
Ozxyporus mexicanus, Fauvel, Bull. Soc. Normand. x. p. 217. 
Hab. Mexico, Oaxaca (Sallé +), Juquila (Sallé, Hoge). 
2. Oxyporus flohri. (Tab. XVIII. fig. 2.) 
Testaceus ; mandibulis fasciisque duabus, una ad elytrorum apicem, altera ante abdominis apicem, nigris ; 
capite infra pectoreque fuscis. 
Long. 10 millim. 
Hab. Mexico, Alto del Tizar (Flohr). 
Antenne entirely yellow. Thorax small, not so long as broad, rounded at the sides. 
Elytra with two irregular discoidal series of punctures, the black band broader at the 
outer angle. 
I am indebted to Mr. Flohr for two examples of this distinct species; both are 
rather immature. 
Subfam. OXYTELINA. 
For the purposes of this work, this subfamily will comprise, not only Erichson’s 
tribe ‘Oxytelini,’ but also his ‘ Piestini,’ ‘ Phlceocharini,’ and ‘ Proteinini,’ as I find it 
quite impossible to distinguish these smaller tribes, now that we are acquainted with a 
much greater number of forms than were known to Erichson fifty years ago. There is 
in this division of the Staphylinide great variety in the form of the anterior coxe and 
the pieces of the prothorax adjacent to them, but the modifications are so gradual that 
it would be very difficult to use them for taxonomical purposes; it will probably be 
found more advantageous to make use of the structure of the front of the head and the 
number of joints in the tarsi as the means of classification. 
Group OSORIINA. 
OSORIUS. 
Osorius, Latreille, Régn. Anim. iv. p. 438 (1829) ; Erichson, Gen. et Spec. Staph. p. 753; Leconte, 
Tr. Am. Ent. Soc. vi. p. 215. 
This genus comprises about thirty species, and is widely distributed in the warm and 
temperate regions of the Old and New Worlds, though not found in Europe. America 
north of Mexico has two or three species, but the greater number of those known to me 
inhabit South America. 
These insects are said to live in decaying wood. Mr. Champion found the greater 
part of his specimens living in sand on the banks of streams after the manner of 
Bledius, one or two were, however, found by him in very wet rotten wood; he also 
frequently captured examples on the wing. Osorius would appear to take the place 
of Bledius in Tropical America, the latter being represented only by a small number 
of inconspicuous species in this region. : 
