REVISION OF ELEODIINI BLAISDELL. 307 



tarsi feebly thickened at tips beneath, and there clothed with qiute 

 dense, silken, yellowish or brownish pubescence. 



The first joint of the middle tarsi also bears a small tuft of similar 

 pubescence at tip beneath, and at times the second exhibits a very 

 small one. 



The species naturally associate themselves into groups, the relation- 

 ships by which this is accomplished result from their genealogical 

 development; and, accordingly, the pubescent tufts may be flat, 

 slightly longer and truncate, or still longer, usually smaller and 

 subacute. 



In most females the first joint of the anterior tarsi is more or less 

 transversely thickened at tip beneath, and simply clothed with ordi- 

 nary spinules across that point where the groove is more or less 

 interruj:)ted. 



In the males the pubescent tufts always interrupt the grooves which 

 are evident on the remaining joints, and in all except the first in the 

 female. 



At times there is a slight tendency to a lateral compression of the 

 tarsi, but this is not always evident. The femora are always mutic ; 

 at times the anterior femora are slightly sinuate at apex beneath. 



The pronotum is never declivous at the sides; the disc is always 

 evenly convex from side to side, but in the 'parvicollis section there is 

 some flattening along the lateral margins corresponding to the granu- 

 late area, the sides appearing somewhat dilated as a result. The 

 marginal head is always distinctly visible from above, entire in 

 those species which are very slightly sinuate or constricted at the 

 base, and obsolete or simply continuing as a mere line to the basal 

 angles in those species which are more strongly constricted. The 

 base is at times so strongly constricted as to appear almost pedun- 

 culated. 



The general form is oval to ovate, some species are slightly more 

 elongate and oblong. The elytra are oval, Avith sides more or less 

 strongly rounded, apex never produced; the humeral angles are 

 always more or less rounded, except in tibialis, where they are dis- 

 tinctly angulate. 



There is in this subgenus a tendency for the anterior tibite to be- 

 come constricted at base, most evident in tibialis. The tibial spurs are 

 quite similar in the sexes. 



Among the species of Blapylis are to be found our smallest Eleodes. 



With the subgeneric tarsal characters are to be correlated the fol- 

 lowing : 



Genital rharaeters, male. — Apicale of the edeagophore triangular 

 and without a median groove, except in tibialis (see p. 316) for re- 

 marks upon this species). 



