Proceedings of 

 the United States 

 National Museum 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION • WASHINGTON, D.C. 



Volume 121 1967 Number 3568 



REVISION OF CLICK BEETLES OF GENUS MELANOTUS 



IN AMERICA NORTH OF MEXICO 



(COLEOPTERA: ELATERIDAE) 



By Laurence W. Quate and Sarah E. Thompson ^ 



Click beetles and wire worms of the genus Melanotus are common 

 elements in the North American fauna. Some of the species are 

 important to agriculture because the larvae are destructive to seeds 

 and roots of corns, small grains, grasses, and some root crops; in 

 spite of their importance, the North American species of the genus 

 have never been revised. Early descriptions by LeConte (1853, 

 1866), Say (1823, etc.), Melsheimer (1846), Erichson (1842), and 

 others are of little value in identifying the species. General treat- 

 ments of local faunas (Blatchley, 1910; Dietrich, 1945; Brooks, 1960) 

 are improvements but generally insufficient for identification except 

 within a Hmited area. Descriptions of a few neAv species have ap- 

 peared recently (Knull, 1959, 1962) and have increased the need for 

 a thorough revision. M. C. Lane is the taxonomist most qualified to 

 do this, having identified most North American collections of Me- 

 lanotus in the past several decades, but the pressure of other duties 

 has prevented him from committing his Avide knowledge to print. 



' Quatc: B. P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii; Thompson: State Board of 

 Health, Raleigh, N.C. 



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