204 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



This character may be tolerably easily made out with a magnifying glass 

 of even low power, and is, at any rate, not likely to cause much trouble, as 

 most of the species can be separated by their facias after a little experi- 

 ence. The Canadian species of Atcenius are all black, the legs often a 

 little paler, while the Aphodii, on the other hand, are usually more or less 

 parti-coloured. From the other neighbouring genera of the group it is 

 sufficiently easily distinguished by the characters given in the table. 



The following synopsis is purely artificial, and some of the variable 

 species occur in it twice, but as the object of these papers is simply to 

 make the identification of their species easier for beginners, and not to 

 offer new schemes of classification, it has been thought best to seize upon 

 the most easily seen characters. Immature specimens are easily recog- 

 nized, as a rule, by the softness of their integuments, and excluding these, 

 we can use colour as a guide to many of the species. I have therefore 

 separated them as follows : 



A. Scutellum long {}( to 1-5 the length of the suture), species large. 

 Anterior tibise serrulate above the teeth. Colour black, .40 to 



.44 in , .fossor, Linn. 



Anterior tibiae not serrulate above the teeth. Colour variable, 



.24 to .40 in. hamatus, Say. 



AA. Scutellum short (not more than }i to i-io the length of the suture), 

 size variable. 



b. Colour above uniform black or piceous black, tip of elytra 

 sometimes reddish. 

 c. Body beneath black or piceous, varying to brownish. 

 d. Front distinctly trituberculate. 



First joint of hind tarsus not longer than next two, 



.16 to .25 in granarius, Linn. 



First joint of hind tarsus slightly longer than next 



two, .18 to .22 in rtiricola, Mels. 



First joint of hind tarsus equal to next three, .14 



to .20 in vittatus, ?)diy., var. 



dd. Front without tubercles. 



Small species, .16 to .20 in. Elytra reddish at 



tip terminalis,^z.y. 



Larger, .28 to .36 in. Elytra unicolor- 



ous obIongiis,'S,zy. 



cc. Body beneath not black (abdomen, metasternum and 

 legs pale yellow,) .18 to .24 in bicolor, Say. 



