TENEBROIDES. 417 
with only a small number of examples can be procured; hence the majority of the 
members of the genus have been described from a very limited series of specimens— 
frequently, indeed, from uniques,—and very little information exists as to the variation 
of the species. In the collections amassed for the purposes of this work only one 
species of Tenebroides—in addition to the widely distributed 7’. mauritanicus—is repre- 
sented by as many as twenty examples, while the great majority are illustrated by a 
very much smaller number of specimens. 
The only character that has been found for separating the genus into two divisions 
is that used by Reitter and here adopted. 
Division A.—Basal line of the prothorax present on each side, but absent in the 
middle. (Species 1-17.) 
Group 1.—Prothorax strongly transverse. (Species 1-13.) 
1. Tenebroides mauritanicus. 
Tenebrio mauritanicus, Linn. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. i. p. 417 (1758). 
Hab. Fere ubique.—Nortu AmMERICAA—MeExico, Minas Viejas, San Pedro in Coahuila 
(Dr. Palmer), Pinos Altos in Chihuahua (Buchan-Hepburn), Zapotlan, Colima city 
(Hoge), Omilteme in Guerrero (H. H. Smith), Guanajuato, Cordova, ‘Teapa (Sallé) ; 
GUATEMALA, Yzabal (Sallé); Nicaragua (Sal/é). 
2. Tenebroides depressus. 
Trogossita depressa, Guér. Icon. Régne Anim. iii. p. 201°. 
Tenebrioides depressa, Reitter, Verh. Ver. Brinn, xiii., Abhandl. p. 72°. 
Hab. Mexico, Chinantla, Orizaba, Playa Vicente (Sal/é); GuatemaLa, El Tumbador, 
Pantaleon (Champion), Escuintla (Conradt).— VENEZUELA, Caracas”; Braziu!?. 
Distinct from all our other species of this group by its large size; it has, too, a fovea 
on the middle of the head, the sculpture of the submental area excessively coarse, and 
the terminal joint of the antenne longer than usual. Twelve specimens. 
3. Tenebroides breviusculus. 
Tenebrioides breviuscula, Reitter, Verh. Ver. Briinn, xiii., Abhandl. p. 72°. 
Latus, depressus, subnitidus, nigro-piceus, elytris piceis, antennis pedibusque rufis ; capite prothoraceque eub- 
tiliter punctatis, hoc fortiter transverso; elytris seriatim sat fortiter punctatis. 
Long. 84, lat. 35 millim. 
Hab. Mexico, Cordova (Sallé), Jalapa (Hoge); GUATEMALA, Pantaleon, Mirandilla, 
Capetillo (Champion).—SovutH America, Brazil}. 
Head broad and short, opaque, finely punctate, without fovea. Thorax very short, 
BIOL. CENTR.-AMER., Coleopt., Vol. II. Pt. 1, September 1891. 3 H* 
