ANTHEACOPTEEYX.— HEMICEEPIDITJS. 477 



somewhat coarsely punctate, broadly depressed in front ; antennae not reaching the hind angles of the 

 prothorax, feebly serrate, the joints much longer than broad, 3 a little longer than 4 and very much 

 longer than 2. Prothorax considerably longer than broad, widest before the middle, rather sharply 

 margined ; the sides moderately rounded, converging from about the middle towards the base and sinuate 

 behind, and also converging in front ; the hind angles greatly produced, rather stout, divergent, strongly 

 recurved, sharp at the tip, and not carinate ; the surface sparsely, somewhat coarsely punctate, canaliculate 

 behind. Scutellum large, convex, transverse, thickly punctured. Elytra elongate-oboval, about two and 

 one-third times longer than the prothorax, and much narrower than it at the base, a little rounded at the 

 sides, widening to slightly beyond the middle and gradually narrowing thence to the apex ; the humeri 

 oblique ; finely and rather deeply punctate- striate, the interstices moderately convex and very distinctly 

 punctured. Beneath sparsely punctate. Posterior coxal plates abruptly and very broadly widened in 

 their inner third, very narrow outwards. 

 Length 10, breadth 3| millim. (6 ■) 



Hab. Mexico, Oaxaca [Salle). 



One specimen only of this remarkable Elaterid has been received. It agrees perfectly 

 in its essential characters with the type of the genus, A. hiemalis, Horn, from the 

 mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. The flattened, elongate-oboval elytra, the 

 elongate thorax, with long and recurved hind angles, much larger size, &c, distinguish 

 it from that insect. Following Dr. Candeze's system of classification, the genus 

 Anthracopteryx must be referred to the group Dimini. 



Group HEMICREPIDIINI. 



HEMICREPIDIUS. 



Pedetes, Kirby, Faun. Bor.-Amer. iv. p. 145 (1837) (nee Illiger, 1811). 



Asaphes, Kirby, loc. cit. p. 146 (nee Walker, 1835) ; Leconte, Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. new ser. x. 



p. 449 ) Candeze, Monogr. Elat. iv. p. 207 ; Cat. Method. Elat. p. 181 ; Horn, Trans. Am. 



Ent. Soc. viii. p. 69 (1880). 

 Hemicrepidius, Germar, Zeitschr. fur Ent. i. p. 212 (1839). 



This genus is well represented in our region, as well as in America north of Mexico. 

 The Central-American species, A. carbonatus excepted, differ from the typical North- 

 American forms in having the second and third tarsal joints narrower, somewhat 

 compressed, and not lamellate. The fourth tarsal joint in all of them is small and 

 very slender. The two described South-American species probably do not really 

 belong to the same genus : one of these, H. longipennis (Cand.), from Colombia, has 

 the third tarsal joint only dilated ; the other, H. amcenus (Philippi), from Chili, is 

 unknown to me. The numerous species are extremely closely allied, and some of 

 them are very variable in colour, or differ in this respect in the two sexes, this bein°- 

 the case in H. biformis, H. flavipes, H. parvulus, and II. patruelis. H. instabilis and 

 //. longicollis are also very variable in colour, especially in the female sex. Of 

 II biformis we have fortunately received a pair in copula, thus proving the identifi- 

 cation of the sexes. 



These insects are chiefly found upon herbage or flowering shrubs, and are sometimes 



