346 [June, 



Notes on the Amar^e of the United States. 

 By John L. Le Conte, M. D. 



Although most of the Amarae found in our country have already been made 

 known, the labor of determining species from the scattered descriptions of vari- 

 ous authors is very great. I have therefore thought that it might give some aid 

 to the final arrangement of the .synonymy of this genus, to bring; together the 

 diagnoses of those known to me by specimens, as a definite basis would thus be 

 established for comparison of types of the species in other collections, not ac- 

 cessible to me ; and even where the names and synonyms adopted by me would 

 be found faulty, a method of eliminating the errors resulting from differences in 

 style of descriptions would be avoided. 



In the arrangement of the species, nothing can be better than the divisions 

 proposed by Dr. Zimmermann, although they cannot be admitted as of generic 

 value. The only alteration I have made is the suppression of Percosia as not 

 sufficiently distinct from Celia. They are as follows : 



1. Thorax ante basin latior. 



a. Tibiae posteriores sexus utrinsque intus simplices (Liocnemis Zim.) Sp. 1. 



b. Tibiae intermedial maris intus bidentatae (Lirus Zim.) Sp. 2 11. 



c. Tibiae posticae maris intus dense pilosae (BradytusZim.) 12 16. 



2. Thorax ante basin haud latior. 



d. Tibiae posticae maris intus dense pilosae (AmaraZim.) 

 x. Tibiae anticae calcare trifido terminatae (TriaenaLec.) 17 20. 

 /2. Tibiae anticae calcare simplice. Sp. 21 33. 



e. Tibiae posticae maris intus haud vel vix pilosae (Celia Zim.) 34 48. 



a. LIOCNEMIS Zim. 



1. A. avida, oblonga. latiuseula, nigro-picea, thorace latitudine duplobre- 

 viore, postice modice angustato, lateribus rotundatis, fortius marginatis punctatis, 

 ad basin summam subsinuatis, angulis posticis subrectis, basi tota confertim punc- 

 tata, utrinque vage sat profunde foveata : elytris thorace haud latioribus striis 

 profundis, subtiliter crenulatis,antennis palpis pedibusque rufis. Long. -31 '38. 



Zabrus avidus Say, J. Ac. 3, 148. Pelor av. Say. Tr. Am. Phil. Soc. 4, 428. 



Amara conjinis Dej. Sp. Gen. 3, 510. 



New York, Illinois, Lake Superior; abundant. The dilated joints of the 

 anterior tarsi of the male are smaller than in any other of our native species. 

 Dr. Zimmermann, probably not having seen the male of this species, places it 

 (Silberm. Rev. Ent. 2, 229,) incorrectly in Bradytus ; the posterior tibiae are not 

 pubescent internally. 



b. LIRUS Zim. 



2. A. lacustris, elongata, supra aeneo-picea, subtus rufo-picea, thorace 

 latitudine vix sesqui breviore, postice modice angustato, lateribus rotundatis, 

 postice sinuatis angulis posticis rectis prorninulis, impressionibus basalibus pro- 

 fundis punctatis bistriatis, carina externa acuta, elytris parallelis humeris vix 

 rotundatis, thorace haud latioribus, dorso planiusculis, striis crenulatis, ad 

 apicem impunctatis : epipleuris pedibus antennisque rufis, mesopleuris obsolete 

 punctatis. Long. 45. 



One female found on the north shore of Lake Superior, I formerly considered 

 this as Curtonotus convexiusculus Steph. (Kiiby, Fauna Bor. Am. 35), but on com- 

 parison with English specimens it proves entirely different. From that, as from 

 our other species, it differs by its narrower form, longer elytra, less rounded, but 

 more sinuate sides of the thorax, and more prominent posterior angles. 



A. Jacobin a, elongata, piceo-nigra, thorace latitudine sesqui breviore, postice 

 magis angustato, lateribus rotundatis postice sinuatis, angulis posticis rectis 

 prorninulis, ad apicem et basin punctato, impressionibus basalibus valde profun- 

 dis, vix bistriatis, carina externa acuta; elytris thorace haud latioribus, fere 



