1852.] 95 



postice constricto, elytris ovalibus, convexis, macula magna lateral i, fasciaque 

 anuusta postica nijjris. Long. -1. 



Sea beach of Sullivan's Island, S. Carolina : June. Body bright reddish yellow, 

 very smooth and shining; head large slightly convex, rounded behind, marked 

 with a few distant punctures, and four or five erect black hairs ; front blackish : 

 antennae with the joints 2 6 slender, nearly equal, 7 11 gradually increasing in 

 size. Thorax as long as the head and one half narrower, transversely convex, 

 much narrowed and constricted just behind the middle, then widened a little to 

 the base, which on each siile has a wide shallow fovea. Elytra oval, gradually 

 dilated to the middle, where they are three times as wide as the thorax; apex 

 rounded: humeral angles obsolete, disc convex smooth, ornamented with a large 

 lateral blackish spot at the middle, and a narrow blackish band between that and 

 the apex; margin with a lew black bristles. Body beneath finely punctured, 

 and slightly pubescent, thighs slightly incrassated, tarsi slender, lobes of the 4th 

 joint very narrow, produced beneath ; posterior tibice slightly compressed and 

 bent. 



I can find no sexual difference. This and the next species might more pro- 

 perly enter Ferte's 4th division of Anthicus, but both have the neck of the thorax 

 distinct, and this one is completely apterous. At any rate they show the necessity 

 of uniting the two genera. 



2. A. mundus, alatus, rufo-testaceus nitidissimus, thorace elongate, pone 

 medium constricto, basi 3-punctato, elytris pone humeros impressis, rufis fascia 

 lata ad medium, maculaque maxima apicali nigris. Long. "09. 



Formicilla mnnda Lee. An. Lye. 5, 152. Bright reddish yellow, very smooth 

 and shining, with a few black setae ; antennas, head and thorax as in the last, 

 except that the latter is less convex on the disc, and has three points at the 

 middle of the base. Elytra much less convex, slightly dilated as far as the 

 middle, rounded at the apex ; humeri distinct obtuse : disc obsoletely and 

 sparsely punctured before the middle, post humeral impression large and distinct: 

 ornamented with a very broad black fascia at the middle, and a very large 

 common black spot, which extends nearly to the apex, leaving only a narrow 

 yellow fascia between it and the band just described, and a narrow lateral and 

 apical margin yellow. Body beneath ferruginous, finely punctured and pubescent. 

 Thighs moderately incrassated. 



I found only two specimens of this insect, on the lower part of the Colorado 

 River. It agrees so closely in general characters with the preceding species, 

 that it would be unnatural to separate it as a distinct genus. I am, therefore, 

 led to believe that the filiform tarsi, ascribed by me to this insect, must be an 

 error of observation, depending on the condition of the specimens, which unfor- 

 tunately became mouldy at Panama. All my attempts to cleanse the tarsi have 

 heretofore proved useless ; and I may add, that in A. scitulus, the lobes of the 

 fourth tarsal joint are so delicate, that the slightest dirt is sufficient to render 

 them invisible. 



Anthicus PaykuU. 



Although the arrangement followed by Ferte may be the most convenient in 

 working with species from every part of the world, yet it has appeared to me 

 to be capable of some improvement, when used in the study of our native 

 species. I have therefore attempted to separate them into homogeneous groups, 

 so that the diagnoses of the species may thereby be shortened, and the labor of 

 identifying species diminished. The following table seems to answer the pur- 

 pose without any great violation of affinity. 



A. Caput non granulatum, tibiae calcaribus fere obsoletis. Thorax basi 

 marginatus. 



a. Capite rotundato, occipite non impresso, palpis articulo ultimo maximo, 

 thorace postice constricto, elytris basi impressis. Sp. 1 3. 



15 



