STAPHYLINIDAE, 95 



Sub-Tribo 1.— Quediiiii. 



The antennjB arc inserted at the anterior point of tlie lateral 

 margin of the front; the thorax is smooth and glabrous, with but 

 few dorsal punctures, and its lateral margin is single and acute, 

 as usual. 



The body is usually fusiform, sometimes linear. The species 

 are found in various situations ; Quedius under stones and bark 

 in damp forests, Acylophorus near water. The labrum is usually 

 margined with membrane, and usually, though not always, bi- 

 lobed. There is a distinct lateral suture on the under side of 

 the head beneath the eyes. 



Tills sub-tribe is very closely related to the preceding tribe, 

 but the difference in the position of the antennae will enable the 

 student to avoid confounding them together. 



The tarsi are 5-jointed, the middle coxae contiguous, the hind 

 tarsi not dilated, and the maxillary palpi not dilated, in all of 

 our genera. Tanygnathus has 4-jointed tarsi. 



Tarsi 4-jointed. Tanygnathus. 

 Tarsi 5-iointed ; 



Antennae geniculate. Acylophorus 

 Antennse straight; 



Palpi subulate. Heterothops. 



Palpi filiform. Quedius. 



Sub-Tribe 2. — Staphylinini (genuini). 



The antenna are inserted on the anterior margin of the front, 

 inside of the'l)ase of the mandibles, but distant from each other. 

 The thorax is more or less convex, frequently densely punctured, 

 with the lateral margin double; the prothoracic spiracles are 

 always visible and uncovered; the labrum is always bilobed; the 

 antennae are never geniculate. The suture is imbricate only in 

 Thinopinus. 



The species live on decomposing nnimal and vegetable sul)- 

 stances, or on excrements; rarely (Thinopinus) on the shores of 

 the ocean, below high-water mark. Some of them are the largest 

 of the family. 



The genus Staphyliiins, as set forth by Erichson, has been dis- 

 membered by later authors, to form several of the genera below 

 mentioned. 



