'nir: siiininc ki,()\vi':i; liiMyn.i'is. 



4! 17 



(.!' t'lylni. st-.-irct'ly iiun-lnle. I'llyli'.-i disliiiclly Imt sp:ii-soly [)Uiicliito, the 

 IMiiii'lurcs lincsl Inward (he liasc; siilural slria tlcei'. •■' littN' cnrvefl. riPiiirlli 

 l.s nun. 



Si)iithciii li;iir of Slate; iVoqnoiil. .May 1 St'i>l('iiilM'i- 20. 

 Sca2)hioiiii( riis flaveacens Casey, ])aie brownish yellow, length 

 .n mm., "was (.leseribed from Michigan. 



Family XIV. PllAT.ACIUD.Iv 

 The Siiinixg Fi.owek Beetles. 



To thi.s family Ix'loiiu' a small limiihcf of oval or roiiiHled-oval. 

 convex, shining beetles, having the body vei\v compact; antenna^ in- 

 serted mider or at the sides of a slight frontal margin, 11 -jointed. 

 Ihe la.st three joints forming an oval clnl); thorax with 

 tlie side pieces not distinct; presternnm prolonged, en- 

 tering the emarginate mesostei'nnm behind, the coxal 

 cavities open; nietasternum large. ])rodnced in front; 

 scutellnm large, triangnlar; elytra rounded at tip and 

 entirely covering the abdomen, which has five free 

 ventral segments. (Pig. 178.) The front coxa3 are 

 rather small and globnlar: middle coxa:^ transverse, 

 separated by the sternum; hind cox.t^ contiguous, bj^olor.^ a' European 

 transverse and flat: tarsi 5- jointed, the fourth joint l^^^pT '^''^^^^ 

 usually small and obscure. 



From the Scaphidiidfp the members of this family nuiy be known 

 by their broadly rounded instead of truncate elytra and by the 

 smaller and less prominent front coxae. They are less than 3 mm. 

 in length and live principally on flowers, the larvtc living in thi; 

 heads of flowers, especially those of Composita\ The adults may 

 be taken in summer by beating or in antnnni and spring by sifting. 

 Some species, however, occur onl}' beneath bai-k. The name of the 

 family is based upon that of the oldest g(Miiis. riialacrus, a word 

 meaning bald-headed and suggested probaltly by Ihe rounded shin- 

 ing aspect of these beetles. 



The principal literature relating lo thi' raniily is as follows: 



LeConte. — -"Synofjsis of the Phalacrid;e oC the l'nit<>d States," 

 in Proc. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci., VIII, 1S5G, 15-17. 



Casey. — "Synopsis of PhalacridaB, " in Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 

 V, 1890, 89-144. 



About 300 specie.s of the family are known, 47 of which, dis- 

 tributed among ten irenera, being listed from the United States, 



