NORTH AMERICAN GEOTRUPINAE — ^HOWDEN 273 



laterally is more convex and not as narrowed anteriorly as in many 

 eastern sjdendidus . Other structures, such as carinae on legs, striae, 

 and male genitalia, do not exhibit even moderately constant differences 

 from splendidus. 



Neotype: Male (purplish black), Columbia, Mo., Apr. 24, 1935, 

 Starr (USNM). No type locality given by Say. 



This subspecies can be differentiated by the yellowish color of the 

 dorsum, which is quite different from the deep "grass" green of the 

 southeastern splendidus. In general the larger size and more rounded 

 and slightly wider anterior portion of the pronotum will also dis- 

 tinguish miarophagus. 



Say's description of miarophagus is woefully inadequate, and does 

 not fit the usual western forms. A number of the western specimens 

 examined were very dark (which is extremely rare in eastern specimens 

 and it seems probable that Say merely described the less usual color 

 phase of the western form). 



Geotrupes gilnicki Jekel appears to be a fair description of the 

 western subspecies, but is recorded (questionably perhaps) from Haiti. 



The type of Geotrupes mixtus Horn is a large purple black male in 

 the LeConte collection and again appears to be one of the unusual 

 dark forms of splendidus. A very occasional large specimen, identical 

 to Horn's mixtus, is found in the uniform southern population. I am 

 unable to detect definite structural differences (other than size) 

 between these unusual specunens and the usual southern splendidus, 

 and for the present can consider it only a variety. Future investiga- 

 tion may prove this belief erroneous. 



There has been a moderate amount of information published on 

 the biology of miarophagus, here considered the western subspecies 

 of Geotrupes splendidus. The references all use the name splendidus, 

 but have, because of the locality in which the work was done, been 

 referred to miarophagus by the present writer. 



Brown (1927, p. 28) found the species commonly from April to 

 June and from September to October in moist woods in Payne County, 

 Olda. Mohr (1943, p. 278) mentions finding the adults at 2- or 

 3-day-old dung, while Park (1931, p. 200) lists finding ^^ splendidus' ' at 

 the fungus Hydnum septentrionale Fries on July 1, 1926. Blatchley 

 (1896, p. 436) mentions finding specimens flying in March in Vigo 

 County in Indiana. He states that he found a pair in copulation 

 under a log in December, and follows this with the rather doubtful 

 statement, "They usually mate in May." 



R. W. Dawson, when at Lincoln, Nebr., published (1922, pp. 196- 

 197) the following interesting account on the biology of miarophagus: 



During the month of June, 1905, while the writer was spading in his home 

 garden he had occasion to remove a quantity of lawn clippings that had been 



