278 [February, 



The following species are unknown to me : 



N. obscurus Kirby, Fauna Bor. Am. 97. 



N. he bes Kirby, Fauna Bor. Am. 96. Nova Scotia. 



N. maritimus Man. Bull. Mosc. 1843, 251; Chevrolat, Guerin's Icon. 

 Regne An. 60, pi. 17, fig. 8 ; Sitka. 

 JV. auripilosus^ Esch. (teste Motschulsky, ibid. 1815, part i. p. 52.) 



N. defodiens Man. Bull. Mosc. 1846, 13 ; Sitka and Unalaschka. 



In Illiger's Magazin (6, 271 note,) Herschel mentions N. carolinus Linn., 

 but after a very careful search, I cannot find any such species in Linnaeus' 

 works, nor is it mentioned by any other author. 



SiLPHA lAnn. 



The following arrangement of the species is the most natural that I have been 

 able to form ; it must be remembered at the same time, that the intermediate 

 coxae in all our species are moderately distant : 



A. Antennae articulis tribus ultimis longioribus. 



a. Antennae laxe articulatae ; oculi prominuli. 



1. S. surinamensis Fabr. Ent. Syst. 1, 248; Syst. El. 1, 336 ; Linn. 

 Syst. Nat. (ed. Gm.) 4, 1620: ibid. (ed. Turton,) 2, 99 ; Olivier, 11, tab. 2, fig. 

 11; Herbst, Kafer, 5, 173. 



Necrodes sziriiiamensis Latr. Gen. Crust, et Ins. 1, 498. 



Common in the Middle, Southern and Western States. Varies in having a 

 small lateral spot at the middle of the elytra, and sometimes a small discoidal 

 one between the 2d and 3d costa. The posterior thighs of the male are very 

 much incrassated, and armed beneath with a sharp tooth ; the posterior tibiae are 

 also much curved, and dilated internally towards the apex into an obtuse angle. 



I have excluded the synonym of Kirby, (Fauna Bor. Am. 99,) because the 

 males of his Nova Scotia species are stated to have the posterior thighs very 

 slightly enlarged. This needs confirmation by a re-examination of the original 

 specimens now in the British Museum. 



b. Antennae minus laxe articulatae. 



t. Thorace subinaequali piloso ; antennae articulo 3io longiore. 



2. S. lapponica Herbst, Kafer, 5, 209, pi. 52, fig. 4. 

 S. caudata Say, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. 3, 192. 



S. tubercidata Germar, Ins. Nov. 81. 



S. californica Mannerheim, Bull. Mosc. 1843, 253. 



Oiceoptoma {Tha7iatophilus) lai^poiiicum Kirby, Fauna Bor. Am. 100. 



OiceoptoTua granigera Chevrolat, Col. Mex. fasc. Ima. 



Found in every part of the northern portion of the continent, not extending 

 south of Albany (New York) in the Atlantic States, but in the central region 

 extending into New Mexico, and even into Mexico ; found also in Oregon and at 

 San Diego in Southern California. 



I have only referred to the original description of Herbst, leaving out all the 

 rest of the European synonymy, as it should have no place in a local fauna. 



The elytra of the males vary slightly in form, being sometimes truncate, and 

 sometimes slightly sinuate ; those of the female are more deeply sinuate at the 

 extremity, and are more or less prolonged at the suture ; the anter4or tarsi are 

 slightly dilated in the males. 



The differences upon which are founded the various synonyms above quoted, 

 are entirely individual : they are all found intermixed together wherever the 

 species occurs. 



y8. Thorace glabro; antennae art. 2 et 3 subaequalibus. 

 * Thorace aequali, elytris truncatis. 



3. S. truncata Say, Journ Acad. Nat. Sc. 3, 193. 

 Forks of Nebraska River. 



** Thorace inaequali, elytris integris. 



4. S. marginalis Fabr. Ent. Syst. Mantissa, 215; Syst. El. 1, 338; 



