Insects 175 



in Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico. Trier aniodes stansburyi. 

 found in Boulder in May (Maxy Pope) is of moderate size, black, 

 with very bright red elytra. The claws are very peculiar, having 

 a long bristle-like structure from near the base, while the main 

 part of the claw has fine comb-like teeth. 



The Tenebrionidae are nearly all black, slow moving, some 

 quite large. The common and characteristic genus of the dry 

 regions of the west is Eleodes. These beetles live upon the ground, 

 and when disturbed elevate the posterior end and emit an ex- 

 tremely disagreeable odor. They are very hard to kill in the 

 cyanide bottle, seeming to be resistant to noxious gases. But 

 one of my students, Mr. Clement Sutton, discovered that with 

 an Eleodes he could make a very efficient killing-bottle for other 

 insects. As they have no wings, and can only travel on foot, 

 these beetles tend to form isolated colonies with distinctive 

 characters, and an intensive study of them, combining field and 

 laboratory work, would be of great interest and value. The 

 student who should undertake this would find his work made 

 comparably easy by the admirable monograph of the group by 

 Dr. F. E. Blaisdell, published in 1909 as Bulletin 63 of the U. S. 

 National Museum. 



The Cleridae or checkered beetles do not usually attract 

 much attention, but two or three Colorado species are remarkable 

 for their beauty. The larvae destroy other insect larvae. On 

 flowers one may often find Trichodes ornatus of Say, usually about 

 three-eights of an inch long, parallel-sided, with yellow markings 

 on a steel blue ground. The thorax is usually steel blue or green- 

 ish blue, but a western form (variety douglasianus) , which I have 

 from Lake Tahoe, California, has it yellowish green. Even in 

 Boulder, Colorado, specimens occur with green thorax. There 

 is also a smaller species, Trichodes nuttalli of Kirby, not uncommon 

 at Boulder, which is steel blue marked with blood red. It has been 

 taken on flowers of mariposa lily, Calochortus gunnisoni, by Mrs. 

 Cockerell. An equally beautiful species, with red thorax, and the 

 middle of the elytra broadly bright red, is Enoclerus coccineus. 

 It was named as recently as 1906. 



The Cantharidae or Telephoridae are softened, flattened, 

 mostly parallel-sided beetles, often found on flowers. Our com- 

 mon genus is Chauliognathus; the name has rather a hibernian 



