1909] FALL— NEW PLATYCHOLEUS 133 
A NEW PLATYCHOLEUS. 
BY He C) RAL. 
Wate collecting at Lake Tahoe in the summer of 1897, a number of specimens 
of Platycholeus leptinoides were taken by the writer. Among these was a single female 
specimen of duller surface lustre, which was set apart to await the possible turning 
up of a similar male. During the past summer (1909) Dr. Fenyes took a good series 
of Platycholeus of both sexes, all alike, and all precisely similar to my dull female 
taken twelve years before. An examination of the male confirms my suspicion that 
we have here to do with a species quite distinct from leptinoides, and enables me to 
present a comparative description. 
PLATYCHOLEUS OPACELLUS N. sp. 
Of the same size and color as /eptinoides, from which it differs in its duller surface 
lustre, the pronotum being only feebly shining and the elytra quite opaque. The 
elytra are also less pointed behind; the antennae less slender, the joints generally 
less elongate, the sixth but little longer than wide, the eighth slightly transverse. 
Secondary sexual characters of the legs less marked, the front tibiae of the male less 
suddenly dilated, the hind tibiae quite devoid of denticles along the inner margin. 
In leptinoides the entire upper surface is rather strongly shining, the elytra more 
acutely pointed behind, antennae more slender, joint 6 nearly twice as long as wide, 
8 a little longer than wide. 
The minute denticulation along the inner margin of the hind tibiae in the male 
of this species seems to have been overlooked by both Crotch and Horn. As ob- 
served by Horn, the middle tibiae are quite strongly arcuate in both sexes of lepit- 
noides. 'Vhis holds in opacellus, but the arcuation is somewhat less strongly and more 
even. 
My specimens were taken in rotten wood in which termites were present. Accord- 
ing to a published note by Mr. Schwarz, ‘‘specimens were obtained by Mr. H. G. 
Hubbard in July, 1891, at Lake Tahoe in a colony of Termopsis angusticollis, within 
the stump of a large pine tree; and other specimens found by Mr. Koebele in Cali- 
fornia with the same host are in the National Museum.” ‘This certainly would 
seem to prove conclusively that Platycholeus is Termitophilous. Dr. Fenyes how- 
ever informs me that all his examples were found with a rather small yellowish brown 
ant under bark, an apparently sure indication of Myrmecophilous habits. While it 
is not impossible that Platycholeus may oceur with both ants and ‘Termites, the 
fact would be a very remarkable one, and further investigation may prove that in 
one case or the other the association was accidental. 
