PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



issued (Mr^iVKu V^JSS ^y '^' 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Vol. 104 Washington: 1955 No. 3344 



SCARAB BEETLES OF THE GENUS PSAMMODIUS IN THE 

 WESTERN HEMISPHERE 



By O. L. Cartwright 



The beetles of the genus Psammodius are placed in the tribe 

 Psammodiina of the subfamily Aphodiinae in the family Scarabaeidae. 

 They are relatively small in size, from 2.5 to 4.6 mm, in length, 

 usually some shade of brown or black in color, rather compact and 

 convex, and oblong to strongly oval in shape. They occur in the sand 

 dunes of the seacoast, the flood-plains of rivers, and other sandy 

 places. The larvae are unknown, but those of the flightless species 

 of the seacoast should be found rather easily at the proper season 

 since the adults frequently occur in abundance among the roots of 

 grasses growing in the sand dunes. 



The genus is worldwide in distribution. Schmidt listed a total of 

 37 species in his monograph of the Aphodiinae, 15 of them from the 

 Western Plemisphere, half the remainder from Europe and Africa, 

 and an equal number from Australia and Asia. 



In the present study, 35 species are recognized from the Western 

 Hemisphere. Sixteen species are recorded from the United States. 

 Four of these are also recorded from Mexico, and a fifth also from 

 Argentina. Six additional species occur in Mexico and Central 

 America and 13 more are found only in South America. 



Of the 35 American species here recognized, 16 were described from 

 the Western Hemisphere, 3 were described from Europe, and 16 are 



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