THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. S25 



A NEW STAPHYL1NID GENUS FROM CALIFORNIA. 



BY A. FENYES, PASADENA, CAL. 



During a recent collecting trip, I came across about 40 specimens of 

 a very odd-looking Staphylinid ; the beetle was living in the nest of the 

 common red and black ant, under boards in the back yard of the Gaily 

 Cottages in Nordhoff, California. I spent a whole morning in removing 

 the boards and following the crowds of ants, and was rewarded, aside from 

 the above-mentioned specimens, with another specimen of a new 

 inquilinous Staphylinid, also belonging to Aleocharinae subfamily. This 

 unique specimen will have to be left unnamed until further material will 

 allow the study of the mouth parts. 



This is the first time, to my knowledge, that guests of the common 

 ant of our State have been found ; possibly the aggressiveness of this ant 

 has kept collectors from exploring the more hidden parts of the nests. 



Following is the description of the new genus and the unique species 

 belonging to the same : 



Symbiochara, gen. nov. (Subfamily Aleocharinee). 



Related to Apteronina, Wasm., and to Sceptobius, Shp.; more robust 

 than the former, with larger elytra and shorter antenna? and legs ; without 

 sexual differences on antennae or legs, differing in this respect from 

 Sceptobius ; body apterous. 



Antennae eleven-jointed, closely articulated from the third joint on ; 

 joints one and eleven long, robust, subequal ; two and three obversely 

 conical, longer than wide ; four to ten gradually longer, the former trans- 

 verse, the latter quadrate. 



Head moderately large, transverse, rounded ; eyes small, somewhat 

 approximated to the oral parts. 



Labrum not clearly visible, possibly obsolete ; mandibles simple, 

 pointed ; mentum very transverse, feebly bisinuate at apex. 



Inner lobe of the maxillae membranaceous, corneous only narrowly 

 along the outer margin, inner margin at apex with about six comb-like 

 spines, towards the base with numerous hair-like spines ; outer lobe almost 

 entirely membranaceous, transparent, longer than the inner lobe, with 

 delicate hair-like spinules at the apex. 



Maxillary palpi four-jointed ; joint three long, thick, cylindrical ; four 

 rather short, very thin. 



Ligula seemingly very short, consisting only of two very small diver- 

 gent lobes. 



Labial palpi three-jointed, the joints subequal, gradually decreasing 

 in thickness. 



September, 1909 



