[379] METAMORPHOSES OF ALASKA COLEOPTERA 2OI 



LEPIDOPHORUS LINEATICOLLIS Kirby. 

 [Plate XXVI, figs. 8-12.] 



Larva white except head, which is yellow ; apodous ; body cylindri- 

 cal, fusiform, arcuate; dorsal surface traversed by numerous transverse 

 grooves and rounded ridges, giving the dorsulum a wrinkled appear- 

 ance ; pleurae with a row of rounded elevations ; ventral surface some- 

 what flattened, ridged and grooved similarly to the dorsulum. Length 

 8 mm. ; thickness 2.5 mm. 



Head light yellow, shining, about one-half as broad as the pro- 

 notum, broadly truncate in front, rounded behind, convex above, 

 flattened beneath. Clypeus separated from the epistoma by a strong 

 suture, twice as broad as long, rounded at the sides. Labrum semi- 

 circular in outline, densely ciliate on the anterior margin. Antennae 

 rudimentary, reduced to a rounded papilla above the bases of the 

 mandibles. Mandibles stout, tapering gradually to the apex which 

 terminates in two obtuse dentations. Maxillae elongate ; cardo dis- 

 tinctly developed, one-third the length of stipes; stipes four times 

 as long as wide, arcuate externally, with a few setae along the margin, 

 emarginate within apex produced to form a rather indefinite galear 

 process, which is thickly set with setae on its inner margin ; maxillary 

 palpus slightly exceeding the galear process, two-jointed, basal joint 

 stout, orbicular, second smaller, conical. Mentum not distinctly 

 separated from the hypostome, oval, rounded in front; palpi short, 

 two-jointed, outer joint as long as basal one but not so thick. 



Pronotum oval, transverse, convex, with a few scattered hairs; 

 mesothorax and metathorax, short, similar in appearance to the suc- 

 ceeding abdominal segments ; abdominal segments nine, the last one 

 conical ; spiracles located on the latero-dorsal aspect of the body, 

 minute, yellow. 



Pupa white, closely resembling adult beetle. Length 7 mm. 



Described from numerous larvae and pupae found buried in the soil 

 beneath the roots of grass, St. Paul Island, Alaska. 



This is the only known American representative of this genus. 



