534 FAMILY XVII. - - 



In addition to the characters mentioned they have the antennas 

 situated upon the front, usually about half the length of the body, 

 9-, 10- or 11-jointed, the last three joints forming a 

 distinct club ; head moderate in size, prolonged in 

 front into a short muzzle; thorax usually nearly 

 square, trisulcate at base, often with distinct wide thin 

 margins turned up at the sides; elytra rounded at tip 

 and covering the dorsal segments; front and middle 

 coxa- globose, hind ones transverse; front coxal cavities open behind; 

 abdomen with five free ventral segments; legs of moderate length, 

 not retractile; tarsi either 4-jointed or apparently 3-jointed, but 

 then with a small concealed joint at the base of the terminal one ; 

 tarsal claws simple. 



The larvae are usually moderately elongate, only slightly con- 

 vex, scaly above and with the sides of the body bearing a number of 

 appendages. "While not injurious, the larvae cannot be said to be 

 especially beneficial, their food consisting principally of fungi and 

 perhaps the juices of decaying wood. Fully 500 species of the 

 family are known, less than 30 of which have been described from 

 the United States. Of these ten are known from Indiana, while a 

 few others doubtless occur. 



The principal literature treating of the North American species 

 of the family is as follows : 



LeContc. "Synopsis of the Endomychidre of the United 

 States." in Proc. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci., VI, 1853, 357-360. 



Crotch. "Synopsis of the Endomychidie of the United States," 

 in Trans. Amer. Ent. Soe,, IV, 1873, 359-363. 



Wicl-lntni. 'The Endomychidae and Erotylidas of Ontario and 

 Quebec," in Can. Ent., XXVI. 1894, 337-339. 



Our representatives of the family may be divided among two 

 subfamilies, separated as follows: 



KEY TO SUBFAMILIES OF ENDOMYCHIDAE. 



a. Tarsi distinctly 4-jointed; size smaller, less than 4 mm. 



Subfamily I. MYCET.^IN.E, p. 534. 



(HI. Tarsi dilated, apparently .".-jointed, the third joint minute and hidden 

 between the lobes of the second; larger, usually more than 4 mm. 



Subfamily II. ENDOMYCHIN/E, p. 537. 



Sulit'amily I. MYCETAEINAE. 



Very small species having the tarsi narrow, the third joint dis- 

 tinct, though shorter than second. The following genera are per- 

 haps represented in the State: 



