10 ATTELABID^. 



[IjeConte. 



Head prominent, not deflexed, eyes oval, finely granulated, not promi- 

 nent ; beak short and stout, thicker at the end be3^ond tiie insertion of the 

 antennae ; antennal grooves short and broad. 



Prothorax truncate before and behind, convex ; prosternal sutures not 

 distinct, coxal cavities confluent, rounded. 



Mesosternum flat, declivous, triangular, pointed behind ; side pieces 

 short transverse, diagonally divided, epimera not attaining the coxae. 



Metasternum short, side pieces wide. 



Elytra not covering the pygidium, separately rounded at tip ; epipleurje 

 narrow but distinct ; inner surface without lateral fold. 



Abdomen with five short ventral segments separated by deeply impressed 

 straight sutures, intercoxal process acute ; fifth at the middle very short, 

 being compressed by the inflexion of the pygidium ; side margin not acute 

 nor extended upwards. Dorsal segments convex, almost corneous. Py- 

 gidium small corneous, upper margin Avith a large deep marginal groove. 



Anterior coxoe conical, prominent, contiguous ; middle coxae somewhat 

 transverse, and a little prominent ; hind coxae transverse, nearly contigu- 

 ous. 



Legs stout, tibiae seri'ate on the inner side, armed at the tip with two 

 strong hooks, which represent the spurs in the two preceding families ; 

 tarsi dilated, brush-like beneath ; third joint deeply bilobed ; claws con- 

 nate at base. 



A family containing but few genera, with less than 200 species, distribu- 

 ted mostly in the tropics. 



ATTELABUS Linn. 



The species of this genus which occur in our fauna, are divided by Mr. 

 Jekel (Ins. Saundersiana ii, 186), into three groups: 



I. Glabrous ; front thighs less thick, not toothed : hom/EOlabus. 

 Blue black ; prothorax, neck, elytra and abdomen red .. . 1. analis. 



II. Glabrous, front femora thick, strongly toothed (in (^) : synolabus. 



Red; legs usually black or dark 2. nigripes. 



Black, elytra partly red. 



Apical angles of beak not prominent 3. bipustulatus. 



" acute, " 4. genalis. 



III. Pubescent, front femora not toothed, himatolabus. 5 . rhois. 

 1. A. analis Illiger., Schneider's Mag. v, 616 ; Gyll., Sch. Cure, i, 199 ; 



Harris, Ins. Inj. Veg. 58 ; A. similis Kirby, Fauna Bor. Am. iv, 204. 



i^. Ventral segments with two rows of acute tubercles ; under surface 

 of mouth flat. 



9 . Ventral segments not tuberculate ; under surface of mouth with two 

 small acute teeth projecting downwards. 



Abundant in the Atlantic States. With a large series of specimens be- 

 fore me, I cannot agree with Mr. Jekel, in separating A. similis as distinct 

 on account of the darker color, and less lustrous elyti-a. 



