424 revision of the elaterid.-e 



Oestodes Lcc. 



Frons planiuscula, lateribus oblique marginatis, antice Don marginata; labrum antice rotundatum ; 

 mandibulge acute, edentate; antennae elongate, serrate 11-articulate, articulo l mo breviusculo, 2" ll ° 

 parvo, 3 — 5 latis triangularibus, sequentibus sensim angustioribus, ll mo paulo longiore non constricto ; 

 palpi articulo ultimo ovali, truncato ; prosternuni antice truncatum non lobatum, mucrone postico 

 elongato, acuto, lateribus rectis non excavatis; mesosternum non protuberans; coxre posticse laminis 

 angustis intus vix latioribus, non dentatis; tarsi tenues pubescentes, articulis 1 — 4 sensim brevioribus, 

 5 10 elongato, unguiculis validis simplicibus. 



A curious genus related to Campylus by the absence of the prosternal lobe, and to Co- 

 rymbites by its tarsi, the first joint of which is not conspicuously longer than the second ; 

 the front is entirely that of Corymbetes; the body is long, slender, and subcylindrical. 



1. 0. tenuicollis, niger, nitidus, glaber, capite parce punctato, tborace vix punctulato, elytris 

 striato-punctatis, interstitiis parce subtilitcr rugose punctatis, tibiis tarsisque testaceis, antennis 

 nigris. Long. "27. 



Elater tenuicollis Randall, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. 2, 14. 



Vermont, Prof. Adams; Maine and Massachusetts, according to Randall. The elytra 

 vary in colour from black to yellow; the intermediate variety has the disc yellow, with 

 the base, margin and suture black. In one specimen the posterior angles of the thorax 

 are yellowish. 



In the species of this genus the thorax is convex, longer than wide, parallel on the sides, 

 and slightly constricted near the posterior angles, which are long, acute, divergent, and 

 finely carinated; the base is not fissured, but is marked each side with a tolerably long 

 acutely elevated line; the body is glabrous above, but a few short hairs may be perceived 

 towards the tip and margin of the elytra; the thorax in the male is more constricted pos- 

 teriorly than in the female, whereby its outline appears less straight. 



2. 0. graciliformis, niger, nitidus, glaber, capite punctato, tborace subtilius parce punctato, 

 apice angulisque posticis testaceis, elytris striato-punctatis, interstitiis subrugosis, pedibus flavis, an- 

 tennis fusco-testaccis. Long. - 28. 



Elater graciliformis Randall, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. 2, 13. 



One specimen, Vermont, Prof. Adams. In form precisely similar to the preceding. 



Pedetes Kirby. 



There are a number of North American Elaters having the second and third joints of 

 the tarsi lobed beneath; the first joint considerably elongated; the coxal plates narrow, 

 and the front produced and margined. And although Germar (Zeitschr. 2, 244) com- 

 plains that he has not been able to detect the lobed tarsi in the species mentioned by 

 Kirby as the type of his genus, this confusion is not to be wondered at, when we remem- 

 ber the very different names applied to the most common European species by the ento- 

 mologists of different nations. 



Our genus seems to be equivalent to Athous, as defined by Latreille, (Ann. Ent. Soc. 

 France, 1st ser., vol. 3,) but by no means what was intended by Eschscholtz, who placed 

 his Athous in a group in which the tarsi arc not lobed. The species may be naturally 

 grouped as follows 



