PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



issued ttS^iVyL. vJ^J^fl l>y tht 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Vol. 104 Washington: 1955 No. 3339 



A REVISION OF THE NEARCTIC SPECIES OF THE BEETLE 

 GENUS MELIGETHES (NITIDULIDAE) 



By Alan M. Easton 



The representation in North America of the genus Meligethes 

 Stephens was first discovered by LeConte, who, in 1857, described 

 three species — rufimanus, moerens, and seminulum. In 1859 he added 

 to this list saevus and ruficornis. Gemminger and Harold in their 

 catalog published in 1868 retained at five the total of Nearctic species, 

 though the trivial name mutatus Harold was introduced in place of 

 ruficornis LeConte by reason of the preoccupation of the latter 

 (Heer, 1841). Horn, in 1879, when revising the Nitidulidae of the 

 United States, added a further species, M. pinguis, but the recognition 

 of the identity of rufimanus LeConte and moerens LeConte served to 

 maintain the previous total, in which no further change was noted 

 at the publication of the Leng catalog in 1920, or in 1943 when Parsons 

 again revised the Nitidulidae of North America. A sixth species, 

 M. simplipes Easton, was described in 1947. 



The present paper introduces two further species, M. canadensis, 

 new species, and M. atratus Olivier, already well known in the Old 

 World. M. seminulum LeConte is shown to be identical with the 

 Palaearctic M. nigrescens Stephens, while M. aeneus Fabricius is 

 deleted from the list, it being asserted that its representatives in 

 North America are conspecific with M. rufimanus LeConte and dis- 

 tinct from the Palaearctic species. 



In compiling this revision I am fully conscious of the debt I owe 

 to my many friends across the Atlantic without whose untiring help 

 in sending material its inception would have been impossible. So 

 many have rendered invaluable assistance in this and other ways 



309152—55 1 87 



