Notes on Coleoptera of the Southwest. 95 



eslablishments, placed only a few feet above the sidewalk, as, 



though many things could be seen ilying around the high 



poles at the street corners, onl}- the very large ones fell to the 



ground. 



Sphenophorus vomerinus — Lcc. 



While coUectinjj on a sand-bar near the Little Colorado 

 river at Holbrook, Arizona, I noticed the remains of a species 

 of Sphenophorus in considerable numbers, and wishing to get 

 a good seiies of living specimens commenced a search to see 

 where they came from. The strip of sand was covered with 

 bunches of short grass, on the roots of which I thought it 

 probable that the larvae fed, and so commenced scraping away 

 the sand in the hope of finding specimens which had gone 

 down to deposit eggs. I succeeded in getting a few in this 

 way and took a few more under old logs, but still not enough 

 to account for the number of dead specimens I had seen. 

 After looking for some time I gave up the search for them 

 and turned to some fresh cow droppings in the hope of getting 

 some good HhtcridcB and StaphylinidcB. 



But when I turned over the first one I found a small colony 

 of Sphenophorus underneath, hiding in the damp sand, 

 where the moisture had soaked through from the dung, or 

 resting in holes excavated in the lower surface of the drop- 

 ping. They occured only in and under fresh droppings, in 

 a living state. Where the dung was dried, only dead ex- 

 amples of Sphenophorus were seen. What could have been 

 their object in thus living in manure, when these species are, 

 so far as known, vegetarian ? Was it for the sake of the 

 moisture or for warmth ? Or may they under certain circum- 

 stances become coprophagous in habit ? I never knew any of 

 our eastern species to occur under dung, though they are 

 often found under stones and logs. Epicierns inibricattcs 

 and Cleonus /ronialis are often found under dry dung in New 

 Mexico. 

 Chalcolepidius webbii. — Lee. 



This fine species, one of the largest and most beautiful of 

 our Elateridce^ is rather rare in collections and not often met 



