28 OEO. H. HORN, M. D. 



This species by the form of the elytra resembles a diminutive pale 

 lutulentas. The pubescence is a little more conspicuous and less erect 

 than is the preceding species. 



Occurs in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois and Massachusetts 

 ( Lowell, Blanchard). 



A. tlecipiens n. sp. — Moderately elongate, parallel, ferruginous brown, 

 opaque. Antcunje rufo-testaceous with darker club. Head moderately convex, 

 finely and rather closely but very indistinctly punctate, front without trace of 

 tubercles. Clypeus impressed in front, broadly emarginate at middle, subangu- 

 late each side, sides arcuate, gense feebly prominent and obtuse. Thorax nearly 

 twice as wide as long, not narrowed in front, sides feebly arcuate, hind angles 

 distinct, but obtuse; base regularly arcuate; the marginal line rather broad, disc 

 moderately convex, the punctures very coarse, but not deep; closely placed pos- 

 teriorly and at sides, finer near the front, the intervals between the punctures 

 somewhat rugose. Elytra as wide at base as the thorax, humeri distinct, slightly 

 dentiform, sides nearly parallel, sfcriiie. broad and deep with coarse but indistinct 

 punctures not closely placed, the intervals convex, very little wider than the 

 .strife. Mesosternum not carinate, opaque finely alutaceous. Metasternum 

 coarsely but not deeply punctured. Abdomen obsoletely scabrous, not punctate. 

 Anterior tibise tridentate externally, not crenate above, the first joint of the 

 tarsus as long as the second. Posterior femora coarsely punctured, the first tarsal 

 joint as long as the next three. Length .14 inch ; 3.5 mm. 



This species by its general appearance is more related to the opaque 

 species of Atsenius than to any species of Aphodius known to me, 

 and it is placed in the latter genus after a study made when the pre- 

 liminary work on the other genera had been completed. The poste- 

 rior tibiae are certainly without the apical prolongation and the trans- 

 verse ridges though present are feeble. The mandibles have not been 

 examined, as this would require a dissection of the unique. 



One specimen, western Nevada (Morrison). 



Group I. 



Scutellum small. Po.sterior tibise fimbriate at apex with unequal 

 spinules. Front never very roughly sculptured, tuberculate or not, 

 clvpeus never with a transverse ridge. Surface of body smooth and 

 shining without trace of pubescence. 



The other characters of the group are variable. The species here 

 included are more than a third of the entire number known in our 

 fauna, and while the characters seem hardly of sufficient moment to 

 divide them into groups they may^be separated into series some of 

 which at present seem natural and homogeneous, others are purely 

 artificial. 



