Till'] OTIi AND lU.ISTKR BEETLES. 135;i 



six of these beetles close together near the iiiai'^iii o£ a wlioat field. 

 One female had the abdomen jtartly ])uried in the soft, recently 

 ploughed earth, and on removing liei- 1 found a eireular mass of 

 yellow eggs, 150 or more in lumdioi-. Say states tluit (nncricdinis 

 is "not un<'onimon and is sometimes gregarious in gr(>at nuiiilicrs." 



2.111 (SOIi'i. Meloe angusticollis Sity. Jnuni. riiil. Arad. \,i(. Sci.. Ill, 

 1824, 2S0; ibid. TI. IOC. 

 Head and lliorax dark blue; eiyti-a and abdomen viulacfous. Head 

 alutac-oous. finely, deeitly and very sijarsoly i)unetured. Thorax une-liall" 

 narrower tliau head and nearly one-half longer than wide; sparsely and 

 deeply piuietate and. in male, widi two small impressions each side of mid- 

 dle. Elytra finely and shallowly rnij;ose. Leiiijth 12-1," nun. 



Vigo County; scarce. September IS. Tlie adults are said to 

 fi'ed upon the leaves of the buttercup. This and the preceding spe- 

 cies are often confused in collections, and Wickham evidently has 

 the names transposed in his table of Canadian species. Say states 

 that both head and thorax of angusticollis are "strikingly narrower 

 than the body," w^hile LeConte says that the thorax is nearly one- 

 half longer than wide, both of which statements are true of this, but 

 not of americanus. 



Su])family II. CANTHARINAE. 



In addition to characters given in the key, the species of this 

 subfamily have the body much more slender and the elytra meeting 

 evenly along the suture ; claws cleft to base, the upper portion some- 

 times pectinate. Representatives of four of the five tribes (sub- 

 tribes) and seven of the 24 genera, recognized l)y LeConte and 

 Horn, occur in the State. 



KEY TO INWA.N.V THIBES OF CANTIIAHIN.T':. 



(/. Front not ])rolonged beyond the Iiase of antenna': labiinn small, searce- 

 ly visible; elytra (in onr species) dnll red. 



Tribe I. IlomiM. ji. i:jr)4. 

 <ia. Front prolon.^ed ; fi-ontal sntnre and labrum distinct. 

 h. Mandibles prolonged beyond tlu; labrinn. acnte at tip. 

 c. Elytra entire; tarsal claws cleft. 



'I'l-ibt> IF. \K.M0(ii\ATIll.M. 1 1. 1.").~i}. 



cc. Elytra rndimentary: wings wanting: tarsal claws simple. 



Trilie III. SriAinxi. p. V.)"i. 



hi). Mandibles not i)rolonged, obtnse: elytra entire; antenna} straight. 



not thickened toward the ai)e.\. Tribe IV. CanthakiiN[. p. i;J57- 



