I'm; I'doi'ii-N'KCKKi) Fi xcrs ki-.k'im.ks 



CTl 



*]'_'S(I (.".ST.".). I >i:it(iii().N II s MAcii.Airs .Mclsli.. ri'dc I'liil. Acnd. Xal. Sri. 

 II, IS I 1. iir.. 



()liI(Hi,!j;-<'V;il. ctinvrx. iMill iu'i.w iiisliyt'Iluw ; oly- 

 tr;i with M niiiiiiiri" of irivj:nl;ir. indistiiui. more or \. 

 U'ss fonnoctcd. diirkor spots. 'PIkh-mx ;ihnut iis wide 

 ;is loni,'. disk cojirsoly firMiiulnlc .iiid willi ;i deep mo- 

 diiin iinpiTssidii; iiiiirf^iiis IlMttcnod niid iiniicd witli 

 lliroo or four niievon teeth. Klytr.-i sliij;htly widcf be- 

 hind tlio middle, tips rounded, covering the nhdnnien; 

 eaeh with ten rows of lart^e. (inadrate punctures. 

 Length i'.."> ;> nun. (Fit:. i.'iO. ) 



Tliroiiiihoiil till' Slate; connnon on ftino'i and 

 i)ejioath bark oL' t'liiio'iis-eovered logs, lliber- i 

 nates. April ]1-Ueceinl)er 10. i''iK-25o. x lo. (After shur,..) 



Family XXXt. P.YlJim ID.K. 

 'I'm-: i'liJi P>i:i'7ri>i':s. 



Iiicliulfd ill lliis raiiiily are slioiM. xrvy convex beetles of siiiall 

 oi' iiiedinm size. lia\inii' tlie upper sui'l'ace more or less clothed or 

 ornamented with hairs or minute seah's. The legs of most of the 

 species are very eonli-aet i!e, being capabh' of being folded u[) so 

 closely against the l)ody that il is with difliculty Uial they can Ite 

 seen. The name Hi/rrluis. Iliat of the tyi)ical genus tt) wliich the 

 larger species belong, is dei'ived from the (ii'ee!-; word "Imrsa," a 

 "hide," and was given the genus by LinnuMis. probably on account 

 of some fancied resemblance in texture of their upper surface. He 

 also gave the specific name //////,' //s, meaning "a litth' pill."' to a 

 European species, on account of its reseml)lance to a pill or little 

 ball, and the name "})ill-l)eetle" has been since api)lied to the mem- 

 bers of the family. The 1)eetles are most common in sandy locali- 

 ties, where they are usually found upon tlie ground, either beneath 

 cover or burrowing about the roots of Uw tufts of coai'se grasses 

 which grow in such places. The ')each of Lake .Michigan is a fa- 

 vorite locality for them, aiul along it most of the si)ecies known to 

 occur in the State have l)een taken. Ilowevei'. oiu' or two species 

 live beneath bark and prol)ably occiu- throughout the State. 



The princii)al charact(M"s distinguishing the family are the trans- 

 verse mentiun : the 11- (rarely 10-) .jointed antemue, the outei" 

 joints usually forming an elongate club; prosternum short, truncate 

 in front, slightly ])rolonged and litting into the mesosternum be- 

 hind: elytra covcn-ing the abdomen, which has five ventral seg- 

 ments; front coxa* transverse, separated by the prosternum. the 



[43—23402] 



