FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. 



individuals have been recorded. N. tomentosus: not 

 over .8 in. long; pronotum broader than long, very little 

 narrowed behind; the disc clothed with yellow hairs; elytral 

 markings resemble those of marginatus but are narrower. 



These beetles are extremely flattened. 

 Silpha . , ,, 



o. sunnamensis: .6 to I in. long; rather 



elongate; eyes prominent; hind femora of males quite 

 stout; black, usually with a narrower orange-red cross-bar 

 (often broken into spots) near apex of each elytron. The 

 following are oval in shape, the eyes are not prominent, and 

 the hind femora are not enlarged. S. inccqualis: about 

 .5 in. long; all black. S. noveboracensis: see Plate LXXV. 

 S. americana: about .75 in. long; pronotum yellow with a 

 black central spot; elytra brownish with the crinkly eleva- 

 tions slightly darker; pronotum nearly twice as wide as 

 long; much narrowed in front. It occurs on toadstools 

 and in dung, as well as on carrion. 



The SCYDM^EXID^E are usually less than .12 in. long; 

 shining; oval; convex; brownish or blackish; and usually 

 having erect hairs on the upper surface. They occur 

 beneath bark or stones in moist localities, also in ant's 

 nests. They differ from the Silphidae in having coarser 

 eye-facets. The hind coxag do not touch. Brathinus, 

 which is found in the North about mossy springs, has 

 been put in this family but its coxae nearly touch and a 

 separate family, BRATHINID^:, is justified. 



The PSELAPHID/E are also very small. They agree with 

 the Staphylinidae in having short elytra, but the abdomen 

 is relatively shorter and not flexible. The head and 

 thorax are usually narrower than the combined elytra. 

 Some species "excrete from small tufts of hairs a sub- 

 stance of which ants are very fond, and they are therefore 

 tolerated in numbers in the nests of these insects. They 

 are even said to be fed by the ants and to ride about on 

 the backs of their hosts when so inclined." In general, 

 they are found with Scydmaenidae, and both families are 

 best obtained by sifting. 



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