STAPHYLINKXE 117 



wirier than long, the remaining joints abruptly much wider, rather stout 

 but increasing only very little, passing from one-half to four-fifths wider 

 than long, the last rather short, ogival, as long as the two preceding; 

 prothorax rather small, fully one-half wider than long, parallel, strongly 

 and subevenly rounded at the sides, with an extremely obsolescent 

 transverse ante-scutellar impression; elytra large, slightly transverse, 

 with straight and feebly diverging sides, at base about a fifth wider, the 

 suture two-fifths longer, than the prothorax, the apices not sinuate 

 externally; abdomen much narrower than the elytra, parallel, with very 

 feebly and evenly arcuate sides, not evidently narrowed apically, the 

 tergites all short and equal; middle coxae narrowly separated, the meta- 

 sternal projection broadly but sharply angulate, a little less abbreviated 

 than in the two preceding. Length 2.3 mm.; width 0.63 mm. Nevada 

 (Esmeralda Co.), Nunenmacher. 



This distinct species has no very close allies described thus far; 

 the antennae are nearly as in the two preceding, but the smaller 

 prothorax and the highly polished integuments, as well as the form 

 of the head, show that it does not belong to exactly the same re- 

 stricted group. No sexual characters are observable in the three 

 specimens at hand. 



The following is an aberrant form, small in size and with peculiar 

 conformation of the metasternum: 



Atheta loquax n. sp. Rather stout and convex, shining, the head and 

 abdomen deep black, the prothorax blackish-piceous, the elytra paler, 

 dark testaceous, the legs pale; punctures anteriorly very fine and not close, 

 distinctly asperate and rather close on the elytra, fine and well separated 

 on the abdomen, where the reticulation is large though very irregular 

 and subtransverse: pubescence moderately long, palish; head but little 

 wider than long, three-fourths as wide as the prothorax, the eyes prom- 

 inent, at a little less than their own length from the base, the tempora 

 slightly less prominent, strongly rounding to the base, becoming gradually 

 parallel at the eyes, the carinse very fine and feeble, subentire; antennae 

 piceous, moderately short, notably thick but only very gradually in- 

 crassate distally, the third joint rather longer and more obconic than the 

 second, the fourth not quite as long as wide, the outer joints about a 

 third wider than long, the last large, ogival, longer than the two preceding; 

 prothorax relatively small, two-fifths wider than long, parallel, with evenly 

 and moderately rounded sides, unimpressed; elytra large, moderately 

 transverse, with feebly diverging sides, at base a fourth wider, the suture 

 nearly two-fifths longer, than the prothorax, the apices broadly and 

 feebly sinuate laterally; abdomen much narrower than the elytra, 

 parallel, narrowing very slightly at apex, the fourth and fifth tergites equal 

 in length; middle coxae well separated, the mesosternal process rather 

 wide, gradually narrowing to the acute but somewhat ogival tip, which 

 is distant from the metasternal process, the latter long, rather narrow 

 and with the apex rounded, by a rather short interval which is not quite 



