REVISION OF ELEODIINI BLAISDELL. 193 



ing at apex into the articular cavity, the margins of which become 

 continuous with the sides of the groove. 



Each mesotibia may be very briefly carinate at base externally ; the 

 external surface is quite deeply channeled, to a greater or less length 

 by the tarsal groove, the sides of which are quite abrupt and densely 

 muricate; the groove opens into the articular cavity as in the protibia, 

 but is narrower and the cavity is less widely open. The floor of the 

 groove is quite glabrous. The metatibise are obsoletely carinate at 

 base externally and also Avith the tarsal grooves running nearly the 

 whole length; each groove is rather shallow and not suddenly 

 formed, densely muricate and continuous with the articular cavity. 



The tarsi are robust. 



The protarsi are about a fourth of their length shorter than a 

 mesotarsus. The first joint is about one and a half times longer 

 than wide; the second, third, and fourth joints are subequal in size 

 and length, wider than long, and together about equal to the fifth. 

 Each mesotarsus is about a third of its length shorter than a meta- 

 tarsus. The first and fifth joints are quite equal in length; the 

 second, third, and fourth are subequal, just visibly longer than wide, 

 and together longer than the fifth. 



The metatarsi are about a half of their length shorter than a 

 metatibia; second and third joints subequal and distinctly longer 

 than wide and together about equal to the fourth, the latter about 

 equal to the first, 



ELEODES OBSCURA Say. 



Numl)er of specimens studied, 30. 



Type, destroyed. 



Type-locality. — " Country bordering the River Platte within a 

 hundred miles of the Rocky Mountains." (Say). 



Salient type-characters. — Say's description is too brief and in- 

 definite to give a clear idea of the type : " Elytra scabrous, grooved, 

 margin rounded; thoracic margin not reflected." 



Diagnostic characters. — Easily recognized from its races by the 

 feebly sulcate and scabrous elytra. It is also less elongate. 



The prosternuni is convex antero-posteriorly, subtruncate behind, 

 vertical or oblique and more or less compressed. 



Mesosternum arcuately declivous and more or less concave. 



The tibial grooves of the femora are about as in dispersa. 



The sculpturing of the tibiae is variable, sometimes strongly muri- 

 cate and at others subscabrous. Otherwise the tibial characters are 

 relatively the same as in dispersa. The articular cavities are really 

 less open, as the margin is frequently continued across the confines 

 59780— Bull. G3— 09 13 



