ON GEOTRUPES. 319 



cation of the joint, others again without any truncation or emargina- 

 tion, but a tUinninir of the edge so that the other joints, which are al- 

 ways thicker in this instance, readily conceal a portion of the edge. 

 Specimens in my possession show in one antenna a slight truncation, 

 in the other a normal condition of the second joint of the club, similar 

 indeed to that seen in the other great sub-division of the genus. 



Specimens agreeing in all particulars with the description of Onij- 

 dwtnipes Stnrki! Jekel are before me, which, it appears to me should 

 enter into this subgenus, notwithstanding the absence of the characteris- 

 tic cmargination of the second joint of the antenna! club. In no other 

 of our species do we find anything approaching the margining of the 

 elytra seen in this group. The fact of the resemblance of this species 

 to his BaJi/i has been noticed by Jekel. A singular fact in connection 

 with this species, is that it, also, was founded on females (?), as the 

 measurements given refer to that sex alone, at the same time mention- 

 ing that the species was not rare in European cabinets. I was ecjually 

 unfortunate in recognizing males referable to the subgenus Onijchotni- 

 pcH. in a comparatively large series gathered indiscriminately from all 

 parts of our country. With this fact before me, and with the known 

 variation of the degree of cmargination of the club, the number of 

 tibial ridges, and with the margining of the elytra, no other course 

 could be pursued than that taken in the preceding part of this para- 

 graph. In external appearance, Starkii. cannot be distinguished from 



Bdll/i. 



In regard to the characters separating Ba/i/i and similis it can only 

 be said that they are among the most evanescent of those used for de- 

 fining species. The variation of the tibial ridges has been noticed in 

 Jjldck/iiinni, and the same variation is seen in the species of this group. 

 Specimens are before me with three well defined ridges, and as the 

 .specimens become smaller and the antennal cmargination vanishes, the 

 third ridge grows less, until a small tubercle remains on the line with 

 the others which are normally above it. 



I cannot therefore but consider all these as merely races of one spe- 

 cies, and unite them under one specific name in the following order: — 

 Anoplotrupes Balyi Jekel. 



Var. a, similis Jekel. — Posterior tibia tricarinate. Second joint of anten- 

 nal club emarginate. 

 Var. i3, Balyi Jekel. — Posterior tibia bicarinate. Second joint of antennal 



club emarginate or obliquely truncate. 

 Var. y, Starkii Jekel. — Posterior tibia bicarinate. Second joint of anten- 

 nal club normal or but slightly truncate. 



