18 Trans. Acad. Set. of St. Louis. 



the extreme sides of the front under a more or less prominent 

 supra-antennal ridge or tumidity. The Aleocharini, Stenini, 

 Euaesthetini and some Xantholinini have the fourth palpal 

 joint small and aciculate, but the antennae are placed more upon 

 the upper surface of the front, in smaller and more exposed 

 foveae and are less widely separated at base, being notably ap- 

 proximate in the Xantholinini. The Pinophilini, having the 

 antennae inserted as in Paederini, have the fourth joint of the 

 maxillary palpi large and very obliquely securiform ; they are 

 therefore not closely related to the Paederini and their refer- 

 ence to that tribe as a subtribal group in the European cata- 

 logue of Heyden, Reitter and Weise is not justified in any way. 

 The general form of the body in this tribe is more or less 

 parallel and moderately to feebly convex ; in size they vary from 

 very minute to that of a moderately large Staphylinus. The 

 integuments are moderately dense, generally rather sparsely 

 sculptured and with inconspicuous vestiture, except in a few 

 cases, such as the Lithochares and in Psendomedon, where the 

 sculpture and short vestiture become very dense and the 

 surface lustreless. The head is well developed as a rule, 

 but the neck varies greatly in width, more so in fact than in 

 most of the other Staphylinid tribes and forms a valuable 

 taxonomic criterion, as is also the case with the labrum, which is 

 greatly diversified in structure as may be inferred from the gen- 

 eric descriptions of the tables. The fourth joint of the maxil- 

 lary palpi, although small in size throughout, varies in struc- 

 ture to a remarkable degree as seen in Gastrolohium, Paederus 

 and Ecliiaster. The ligula may be bilobed, as in the Crypto- 

 bia and Lathrobia, fimbriate as in the Lithochares, tridentate 

 as in the Scopaei or unarmed at tip. But comparatively little 

 variation has been noted in the mentum or labial palpi. The 

 gular sutures are greatly diversified and have been employed 

 in the definition of the genera in some of the larger subtribes, 

 such as the Lathrobia and Medones, though within the limits of 

 some others, as in the greater part of the Cryptobia, the Sunii, 

 Stilici and Echiasteres,they are so fixed and uniform as to be 

 of no use in generic classification. These sutures may be 

 either united, forming a single suture, or extremely widely 



