NORTH AMERICAN COLEOPTKRA. 23 



are fine, those of tlie outer side very faint; the ocelhite punctures of 

 the eighth stria do not form a continuous series, hut are more or less 

 interrupted in front of middle. The jirosternum has a marginal line 

 at apex, which is sometimes faint hetween the coxae ; there are no 

 apical setse. 



One of the characters usually assigned to the group seems to have 

 been overdrawn. There should be a punctured area on the proster- 

 num of the male, but in the very many specimens examined it is 

 rare to find anything but a faint indication of this character. For 

 this reason I have found it advisable to deal with that character as 

 one of secondary importance. In addition to the dilated front tarsi 

 the males have but one setigerous puncture on each side of the apex 

 of the last ventral segment, the females have two. In facies the 

 species of this group resemble those of Amara proper, so that it is 

 necessarv to see a male in order to be certain of its position. 



Three species are known to occur in our fauna, which may be 

 separated in the following manner: 



Thorax very distinctly twice as wide at base as long at middle. 



Color black, dull in the female, a little more shiniujr iu the male fai'cta. 



Thorax not twice as wide at base as long, general form more elongate. 



Elytra with a silken lustre, intervals with more or less uneven surface, some- 

 times the intervals are alternately slightly more elevated ; color very 



variable iiiterslitialis. 



Elytra shining, not visibly alutaceous. intervals flat, smooth and even. 



erratica. 



Of these species the first is alone peculiar to our fauna, iidersfKialu 

 occurs also in Siberia, and erratica over many regions of P^urope, 

 especially in the North. The form of the third joint of the antennae 

 is a repetition of that found in a group of Amara proper to which 

 the species of this group have the greatest resemblance. 



A. farcta Lee — Oval, very like confusa, rather depressed, dull black 9 , the 

 % a little more shining and slightly bronzed. Antennse piceous-black. with at 

 most the first joint rufescent. Thorax rather more than twice as wide at base 

 as long at middle, apex feebly emarginate, sides arcuate from a little in front of 

 tiie base, hind angles rectangular, disc regularly convex, not depressed at sides, 

 basal impressions feeble, the outer one oblique and more distinct, surface smooth, 

 sometimes with a few obsolete punctures at middle of the base Elytra finely 

 striate, the strite scarcely vi.sibly punctate, intervals flat, extremely finely aluta- 

 ceous. Body beneath black, shining, slightly bronzed or greenish, smooth. Legs 

 black. Length .28— .3(5 inch. ; 7—9 mm. 



The scutellar stria is in most cases entire, but specimens are not 

 rare with both ends of the stria free. The ocellate punctures of the 



TRANS. AM. KNT. SOU. XIX. FEBKUARY, 1892. 



