HISTERID.E 235 



Carnochan (Psyche, Dec. 1915) as varieties of subrotundus, under 

 the names sayi and frosti and my specimens at least agree with 

 the described characters there is but little doubt, in my opinion, 

 that sayi should be regarded as a species and not as a subspecies; 

 my representative indicates the smallest of the American forms of 

 the genus, and this, in connection with the punctulate prothorax 

 and basal evanescence of the fifth dorsal stria, indicates a specific 

 status for sayi. In regard to frosti Carn., my three examples indi- 

 cate a form very close to subrotundus, though materially larger in 

 size. Mr. Lewis (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1902 and 1908) has 

 described three American species of Phelister, hospes and conquisitus, 

 taken by H. H. Smith in Ulster Co., N. Y., just south of the Catskill 

 Mts., and rubricatus, collected by Wickham in Wisconsin and Iowa. 

 The first is a very isolated species in having a complete stria on the 

 front, in its clearly and rather densely ocellate-punctate propygid- 

 ium and minutely and densely rugose pygidium, with a few punc- 

 tures visible here and there; the fifth and sutural striae are abbre- 

 viated basally and the lateral thoracic stria arches anteriorly; 

 the prosternal striae are united at both ends. In the second, the 

 front is not at all striate, the lateral thoracic stria interrupted at 

 both ends and elytral striae 1-3 are entire, the fourth widely inter- 

 rupted at the middle, the fifth apical and the sutural abbreviated 

 before the middle; the mesosternum is densely punctulate; it is 

 2.3 mm. in length. The third, rubricatus, in all its characters 

 agrees well with the three specimens which I here identify as 

 frosti Carn.; it is 2-2.3 rnm. in length, oval, convex, black, the 

 elytra rufous, blackish medio-basally; the cephalic stria is inter- 

 rupted medially and the lateral thoracic stria arches apically and 

 is abbreviated basally; dorsal striae 1-5 are complete; the propygid- 

 ium is evenly, not densely punctate and the pygidium is nearly 

 smooth; the prosternal striae are joined at base and parallel ante- 

 riorly exactly as in my Catskill specimens referred to frosti. It 

 would therefore be well to examine further into the possible identity 

 of rubricatus and frosti. 



Hetaerius Erichs. 



The species of this genus are all true ant-guests and are modified 

 in a peculiar way, especially in the longitudinally trilobate pronotum 



