1919] Californian Species of Malthodes 41 



Malthodes vapidus sp. nov. 



Fuscotestaceous, head piceous, thorax yellow. Antennae entirely 

 fuscous, as long as the entire body in the male; joints two to four 

 increasing in length, intermediate joints four times as long as wide. 

 Head much wider than the thorax, the eyes large and proininent, 

 separated anteriorly by not more than their own diameters. Thorax 

 moderately transverse, sides straight and nearly parallel, side margins 

 very fine, not thickened appreciably at the front angles. Length (head 

 defiexed) about 2 mm. to tips of elytra. 



Abdominal sexual characters. Male: last dorsals not produced; 

 sixth ventral deeply broadly emarginate; seventh ventral rather wide, 

 parallel sided, deeply widely divided at apex, sinuately ascending in 

 profile. 



California. Lake Tahoe, July 17-21, '97 (type of). 



Malthodes fusculus Lee. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. V, p. 346. 



Le Conte's description, Synopsis of Lampyridae, Trans. 



Am. Ent. Soc, IX, 1881, is as follows: 



"Last ventral (cf ) bent in a sinuate manner obliquely upwards and 

 more deeply nicked at tip than in fragilis; prothorax transverse, finely 

 margined, tinged with testaceous; head black, eyes large, prominent, 

 antennae long, slender, fourth and following joints longer than the 

 second or third, cf two-thirds, 9 one-half as long as the body. Length 

 3 mm. Cal." 



A variety is mentioned with the prothorax "yellow testa- 

 ceous 9." 



While probably most closely related to vapidus, this species 

 is at once separable by the much smaller eyes and consequently 

 narrower head, which is not very much wider than the pro- 

 thorax. The last ventral is forked in a similar manner, but the 

 emargination is much less deep than in vapidus, the depth 

 being subequal to the width of the segment at the bottom 

 of the emargination, while in vapidus it is much deeper than the 

 segmental width at this point. In fusculus the forks com^prise 

 not more than one-fourth the entire length of the segment, in 

 vapidus about one-half the length of the segment. 



The type was taken at or in the vicinity of San Francisco. 



Malthodes tularensis sp. nov. 



Fuscous, thorax yellowish, more or less tinged with fuscous, 

 especially along the side margins. Antennae entirely fuscous, as long 

 as the body in the male; third joint scarcely longer than the second, 

 fourth evidently longer, intermediate joints four times as long as wide. 



