130 MEMOIRS ON THE COLEOPTERA 



finer and sparser on the slope between the strong sublateral grooves 

 and the sides; scutellum large, obtusely ogival, barely at all punctate; 

 elytra as wide as the prothorax, but little over twice as long as the 

 latter, the sides parallel and nearly straight, the apex abruptly and 

 broadly truncate, the tip of each broadly arcuate; surface even, not 

 at all prominent sublaterally, having nothing but the close-set series 

 of strong and conspicuous punctures. Female nearly like the male 

 but with the elytra distinctly more elongate, the prothorax slightly 

 more transverse and the antennae barely longer than the hind body; 

 head and eyes nearly as in the male. Length (d 71 9 ) 1.8-2.0 mm.; 

 width 0.6-0.65 mm. District of Columbia to Florida and Browns- 

 ville, Texas; the single female from the latter locality is a little more 

 slender. [Cucujus modestus Say and singular-is Smith]. 



modestus Say 



Punctures of the elytral series finer and much feebler to almost obsolete .6 

 6 Form rather slender, subparallel, very strongly depressed, polished, 

 pale testaceous, the elytra more flavate and translucent; hairs very 

 sparse and inconspicuous, more visible at the sides of the pronotum; 

 head about equal in width to the prothorax, minutely, sparsely 

 punctulate above and beneath, the epistomal suture distinct, as is 

 also the medial stria; on the upper surface, above each antenna, 

 there is a large and rounded, feebly convex and impunctate area; 

 eyes well developed, rather prominent, slightly in front of the base; 

 antennae (9) rather slender, somewhat longer than the hind body, 

 the outer three joints very slightly dilated, the first three decreasing 

 evenly and rather rapidly in thickness; prothorax just visibly wider 

 than long, quadrate, the sides parallel, feebly arcuate in about an- 

 terior half, thence very slightly converging to the base, the apical 

 angles very minutely subdenticulate, scarcely prominent; surface 

 sparsely, extremely minutely punctulate, rather more visibly so 

 between the fine grooves and the sides; scutellum ogival, not twice 

 as wide as long; elytra parallel and feebly arcuate at the sides, three- 

 fourths longer than wide, slightly wider than the prothorax and much 

 more than twice as long, very flat, abruptly becoming vertical at the 

 sides, these flanks each with two fine approximate striae, their upper 

 limit not prominent; punctures of the discal series rather large but 

 shallow and extremely feebly impressed; pygidium short, closely 

 punctate; last ventral broadly rounded, one-half longer than the 

 fourth; coxae all very remotely separated. Length (9) 1.6-1.65 

 mm.; width 0.5 mm. Southern California. [Lcem. nitens Lee.]. 



nitens Lee. 



Form somewhat shorter and less slender, somewhat less depressed, pol- 

 ished, testaceous, the elytra slightly more yellowish, less translucent 

 than in nitens. Male with the head nearly as wide as the prothorax, 

 minutely, sparsely punctate, the median stria extremely fine and 

 faint, the smooth area above each antenna barely at all convex; eyes 

 rather small, abruptly very strongly and globularly convex, at nearly 

 half their length from the base; antennae slender and filiform distally, 

 two-thirds as long as the body, the basal joint rather longer than the 

 next two, stout and oval, second much less thick though not quite so 



