396 MEMOIRS ON THE COLEOPTERA 



to the elytral apex, blackish, the basal joint testaceous; prothorax two- 

 thirds wider than long, widest behind the middle, the sides broadly and 

 moderately arcuate, converging only apically, the base very broadly, evenly 

 and feebly arcuate, the angles obtuse and blunt, overlapping the elytral 

 humeri within the latter; punctures fine, somewhat sparse, the hairs rather 

 sparse, fuscous; scutellum invisible; elytra transverse, as long and about as 

 wide as the prothorax; sides parallel, feebly arcuate; combined apex broad- 

 ly and feebly sinuate and also sinuate at each side; surface nearly flat, 

 dull, finely, closely punctate and with very short fuscous hairs; on each 

 there is a large elongate discal impression and another shorter one postero- 

 externally; abdominal segments finely, closely punctured and pubescent, 

 the three basal segments with the usual dense apical comb; lateral margins 

 very thick, abruptly thin on the last three segments; tarsi flavate, very 

 finely filiform, the basal joint of the posterior as long as the entire re- 

 mainder. Length 4.4 mm. ; width 1.6 mm. 



This species is hardly comparable, in any way closely, with the 

 European brevicollis, or our own smaller derivative of the latter, 

 which I named atra; the body is more depressed, the head much 

 larger, the prothorax much less narrowed anteriorly and the tarsi 

 still more slender, among a multitude of other differences. 



Subfamily QUEDIIISLE. 



As our knowledge of species becomes gradually more and more 

 comprehensive, it is increasingly difficult to define aggregates of 

 species forming subfamilies and tribes in the larger families of the 

 Coleoptera, and the present subfamily is no exception to this 

 general rule. The principal character distinguishing the Quediinae 

 from the Staphylininse, for instance, is given in the books as the 

 absence of a double inferior margin at the sides of the pronotum, 

 meaning by this that the hypomera are horizontal or nearly so in 

 the latter subfamily and very much inflexed in the former. This 

 will do very well in such a genus as Belonuchus, but there are many 

 Philonthi in which the hypomera are fully as inflexed as in Quedius 

 lavigatus, for example. Then there are unmistakable affinities 

 of the Quediinae with both the Aleocharinae and Tachyporinae 

 through Tanygnathus, which is so distinct as to constitute a tribal 

 group in the Quediinae. So, after all, in delimiting subfamilies 

 and tribes in such cases, more reliance is to be placed upon a com- 

 bination of many external features, constituting what is known as 

 general habitus, than upon any single structural peculiarity. 



The genus Quedius, as now understood, is really a supergenus, the 



