2 MEMOIRS ox THE COLEOPTERA. 



surface being glued to cards, so that the most important characters 

 are not observable, except through a good deal of mechanical labor 

 and risk of injury or destruction of the types. Most remarkable 

 systematic characters have in this way remained unappreciated, if 

 not virtually unknown to them in various sections of the Coleoptera, 

 especially in such genera as Cardiola and in Anthicus and related 

 genera. The three investigators above mentioned are among the 

 notable exceptions to this rule however. 



During the past twenty-five years the writer has been steadily 

 accumulating as much material as possible in the Aleocharinse, 

 with a view to ultimately describing and classifying the species, 

 but pressure of other matters has thus far left too little time for 

 any serious attempt in that direction. It is considered desirable, 

 however, to describe this material now, so far as may be convenient 

 and in a less systematic way, in order that the types may remain 

 in this country for the benefit of coming students of our Staphy- 

 linidse. The species were all described as new, and, in vast major- 

 ity, are actually in this category without question ; but in all cases 

 where it has been possible to identify them with species previously 

 described, I have simply substituted the name given by the previous 

 author and allowed the description to remain. Although the species 

 here described in the group Athetse may seem perhaps to be in- 

 ordinate in number, it can be said with great confidence that they 

 represent only a fraction of the seemingly unending horde occurring 

 in North America, where the Staphylinid fauna is far richer than 

 in Europe; so the likelihood of having made any considerable num- 

 ber of synonyms of species previously described is, from every point 

 of view, minute or negligible. 



Tribe MYRMIDONIINI. 

 Group ATHETVE. 



The Athetse constitute one of the largest and most intricate 

 groups of the entire Coleoptera, and give rise to much diversity of 

 opinion regarding scope and validity of genera. In my own opinion 

 an intermediate course between the prevailing assumption of the 

 present day, that such conspicuously different types as Atheta, 

 Datomicra and Amischa, not to mention a score or more in addition, 

 are not truly generic on the one hand, and the naming of so-called 



