LAND SCAVENGER-BEETLES. 59 



Tlie followiiifj are tlio three ty{)i(;iil gfeiiera : 



A. Heiul purrected ; iuau(lilile.s:i» loui; ;is the hfiul ; body very flat ; size comparatively lur>!e — 



HOLOI.EITA. 



A A. Head retracted ; mandibles short ; body usually convex, (flattened in sub-genns Paronialiis.) 



B. I'rosteruuiu advanced so that the head is invisible from beneath Uistku. 



B B. Prosteniuiu not advanced Sapuinub. 



Ulster is divided by Dr. LeCoiite into ten lesser genera, which De 

 Marseiil has still further subdivided so as to form four additional ones. 

 These divisions are made in accordance with slight organic variations, 

 whi'ih however are sometimes accompanied h^- ditfereuces in size, or l)y 

 perceptible moditicatious of the general form. 



More recently, Dr. Geo. H. Horn has contributed to the American 

 Philosophical Society (June, 1873,) a valuable synopsis of the Ilisteridie 

 of the Unitetl States, in which all our species are carefully reviewed 

 and described. 



Family X. NITIDULID^. 



The typical insects of this family constitute the genus XitUlula of 

 Fabricius, a word literally meaning sldnlng^ or elegant, but which is sin- 

 '^'»^~^-J gularly inapplicable to the insects of this family, as now 

 ^^ constituted, most of which are clothed with a tine pubc- 



^ scence, which is incompatible with a shining surface. They 

 are small, somewhat liattened beetles, the thorax having a 

 wide, thin margin, and the wing-cases more or less cut oft" 

 NiTiDiiA :— 1, behind, so a* to leave the end of the abdomen exposed. In 

 8\"s','i','ant*eM- thc sub-faiuily of Carpophilides, the el^'tra are so short as 

 Weslwood.*' ' to leave two or three of the abdominal segments uncovered, 

 but in the Is'itidulides only the tip of the abdomen is exposed. The 

 fourth tarsal joint is very small, and wholly wanting in the hind tarsi 

 of the males of some si)ecies. Their colors are usually brown or black- 

 ish, with or without dull yellow spots. 



The insects of this family vary much in their habits. Some are found 

 on cfirrion and others on Howers ; several of the most common species 

 are often met with on apples and other fruit in a state of decay. The 

 larvie of the genera Ips Carpophilus and lihiozophagus, have been 

 shown by the observations of a French author, M. Ed. Ferris, to be car- 

 nivorous, subsisting upon soft,, sub-cortical larva?. 



Ninety N. A. species have been described, under the following prin- 

 cipal genera : 



A. Antenna' 11-jointod, club 3-joiuted ; body oval. 



B. Only the tip of the abdomen exposed. 



0. Surface pubescent ; colors dull ; upper lip exposed. 

 D. Body depressed , thoi-ax not overlapping the elytra; color brown, u.sually with obscure yel- 

 low .spot.s XrriuLi.A. 



D D. Body convex; thorax slightly overlapping the base of elytra. Color brown, usually shaded 

 with black Cychra.mis. 



C C. Surface smooth and shining; color black, spotted with yellow or reddish : labrum concealed : 



Ire. 



B B. Two or three last segments of abdomen uncovered by elytra Carpophilus. 



A A. AntennailO-jointed; club solid; body elongated Rhizophagls. 



