STAPHYLINID^E. 197 



shining. The distinct groups of this genus within our fauna are 

 typified by latipes, parcus, diffidens and opacus. 



Palaminus Erichs. 



The species of this genus occur on the foliage of trees and shrubs 

 and are slender frail insects, loosely articulated and difficult to 

 preserve. The abdomen is very slender, cylindrical, unmargined 

 and differs greatly from that of the preceding genera, also, in being 

 coarsely tessellated or imbricate in sculpture. The species wholly 

 of a pale honey-yellow color, with the abdomen slightly to materially 

 darker in tint and the prothorax moderately transverse and well 

 developed, being almost as wide as the elytral base though very 

 much shorter than the elytra, are numerous, and, to superficial view, 

 almost undifferentiable among themselves; they are, how r ever, dis- 

 tinguishable with the greatest ease by the very marked and diversi- 

 fied sexual characters of both sexes; and, in this case, the characters 

 of the female are more decisive and useful in identification than 

 those of the male, in which sex the sixth ventral, not the seventh 

 as stated by LeConte, is prolonged into a kind of asymmetric 

 ligula, generally warped on its surface and obliquely truncate at tip. 

 The above outline description w T ill answer for all of the species 

 allied to testaceus, the integuments being shining and more or less 

 sparsely and coarsely punctate, with the length approximating 3.0 

 mm. in every case; so it is only necessary to outline the sexual char- 

 acters for the six following species: 



Form rather stout, the sixth ventral (9) always very evidently sinuate.. .2 



Form more slender, the sixth ventral (9 ) truncate at tip 4 



2 Sixth ventral (9 ) with a deep apical sinus, extending anteriorly for about 

 half the length of the segment, the emargination with parallel sides and 



rounded bottom, LeConte. Florida contortus Lee. 



Sixth ventral (9) with the apex deeply and angularly emarginate, the notch 

 very large, occupying the entire apex, extending anteriorly for about 

 a third or more of the length of the segment, narrowly rounded or sub- 

 acute at the bottom, the sides flaring constantly more broadly out- 

 wardly and nearly evenly arcuate throughout; male with the ligula of 

 the sixth ventral rather wide, convex, smooth, obliquely truncate, antero- 

 dextrally, the truncature nearly straight, the left angle at tip rounded, 

 the right obtuse but not generally rounded. District of Columbia and 

 North Carolina (Asheville) to Iowa and Mississippi (Vicksburg). 



testaceus Er. 



Sixth ventral (9 ) evenly and more shallowly sinuate, in a broad arc through- 

 out the width 3 



