1286 FAMILY LVIII. MELANDRYID.E. 



alutaeeuus, almost smooth or with a few punctures near the base. Elytra 

 MS iii rrx/ilcndens. Length 6.5-8 nim. 



Southern two-thirds of State; frequent. May 24-July 10. 

 Beaten from oak and other foliage. 



Family LVIII. MELANDRYID.E. 



/ 



THE MELANDRYID BARK BEETLES. 



This group comprises about 70 known North American species, 

 varying much in form and size, though usually elongate and loosely 

 jointed, with the thorax margined at sides, broad behind and often 

 marked with two basal impressions. They occur beneath bark or 

 in dry fungi and are black or brown in color, often thickly clothed 

 with fine silken hair, only a few species being marked with paler 

 spots or bars. The larvae are slender, cylindrical in form and occur 

 in the same places as the adults. The name is derived from that of 

 the typical genus Melandnja, meaning " black 4 oak or tree." and 

 was so called because the insects live chiefly under the bark of trees. 



In addition to the characters above mentioned, the MelandryidiB 

 have the maxillary palpi 4-jointed, usually long, more or less en- 

 larged in the form of saw-teeth, the last joint being the longest and 

 hatchet-shaped; head usually deflexed, rarely constricted behind the 

 eyes, the latter emarginate or entire and rather coarsely granu- 

 lated; antennas 11-jointed, usually filiform; thorax in most genera 

 as wide behind as the base of elytra, which are rounded at tips and 

 cover the abdomen, the latter with five free ventral segments ; front 

 coxa? large, oval, the cavities open behind; middle coxte with dis- 

 tinct trochantins ; hind coxo? contiguous or nearly so ; first joint of 

 hind tarsi always much elongated; tarsal claws variable in the 

 tribes. 



No paper dealing with the North American species of the family 

 as a whole has been published, only isolated genera having been 

 treated from time to time. These, as far as known to me, are as 

 follows : 



/ y ,rWr. " Synoptic Table of Ilallomenus," in Proc. Amcr. 

 Phil. Soc., XVII, 1878, 619. 



If/tDi. "Notes on the Mycteridiv and other Heteromera," in 

 Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., VII, 1870. 336-330. 



Horn. "Miscellaneous Coleopterous Studies," in Trans. Amer. 

 Ent. S<H-.. XV, 1888, 32-44. Contains a table of the tribes 

 composing Ihe family and synopses of several of the genera. 



ro.sr.i/. "Review of the Tribe Tetratomini," in Journ. N. Y. 

 Ent. Soc., VIII, 1900, 166-172. 



