﻿470 
  REVISION 
  OF 
  THF. 
  KLATERID.E 
  

  

  the 
  disc 
  is 
  distinctly 
  channelled 
  posteriorly: 
  the 
  elytra 
  arc 
  very 
  slightly 
  narrowed 
  from 
  tli< 
  

   base: 
  the 
  third 
  joint 
  of 
  the 
  antenna; 
  is 
  very 
  different 
  in 
  form, 
  being 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  fourth, 
  

   though 
  but 
  slightly 
  dilated. 
  

  

  29. 
  E. 
  coll. 
  iris, 
  ater, 
  nitidus, 
  brunneo-puboscens, 
  thoracc 
  sanguineo, 
  latitudine 
  non 
  longiorc, 
  a 
  

   medio 
  antrorsura 
  angustato, 
  sat 
  dense 
  punctato, 
  posticc 
  obsolete 
  canaliculato, 
  prosterno 
  nigro, 
  ely- 
  

   tris 
  parallelis, 
  griseo-pubesccntibus, 
  striis 
  profundis 
  punctatis, 
  interstitiis 
  subconvexis 
  disperse 
  punc- 
  

   tatis, 
  antennis 
  articulis 
  2 
  et 
  3 
  subasqualibus, 
  4 
  t0 
  coniunctis 
  longioribus. 
  Long. 
  '33. 
  

  

  Say, 
  Annals 
  of 
  the 
  Lyceum 
  of 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  New 
  York, 
  1, 
  2G8. 
  

   Elater 
  thoracicus 
  X 
  Herbst, 
  Kiifer, 
  10, 
  51, 
  tab. 
  162, 
  fig. 
  8. 
  

   A/iipedus 
  collaris 
  Germ. 
  Zeitschr. 
  5, 
  172. 
  

  

  Middle 
  and 
  Southern 
  States. 
  Ilerbst 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  confounded 
  this 
  species 
  with 
  a 
  Eu- 
  

   ropean 
  Elater 
  thoracicus 
  Fabr. 
  which 
  is 
  now 
  placed 
  in 
  Cardiophorus. 
  There 
  are 
  some 
  

   naturalists 
  who, 
  finding 
  that 
  the 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  authors 
  fall 
  into 
  different 
  genera, 
  would 
  

   retain 
  both; 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  deference 
  to 
  ancient 
  authorities 
  which 
  can 
  be 
  shown 
  only 
  at 
  the 
  

   expense 
  of 
  good 
  scientific 
  morals, 
  since 
  it 
  opens 
  the 
  way 
  to 
  carelessness. 
  The 
  only 
  method 
  

   of 
  preserving 
  nomenclature 
  from 
  even 
  greater 
  confusion 
  than 
  that 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  already 
  

   plunged, 
  is 
  to 
  exclude 
  decidedly, 
  and 
  without 
  hesitation, 
  every 
  name 
  founded 
  upon 
  error 
  

   or 
  misinterpretation 
  of 
  preceding 
  authors. 
  Dr. 
  Harris 
  thinks 
  that 
  the 
  E. 
  collaris 
  is 
  a 
  spe- 
  

   cies 
  of 
  Cratonychus, 
  but 
  as 
  Say 
  does 
  not 
  mention 
  the 
  serration 
  of 
  the 
  ungues, 
  it 
  is 
  safer 
  

   to 
  consider 
  the 
  present 
  species, 
  which 
  agrees 
  perfectly 
  with 
  his 
  description, 
  as 
  really 
  the 
  

   one 
  intended. 
  In 
  his 
  remarks, 
  (Trans. 
  Am. 
  Phil. 
  Soc. 
  G, 
  174,) 
  Say 
  places 
  E. 
  collaris 
  among 
  

   the 
  species 
  with 
  simple 
  ungues, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  hardly 
  probable 
  that, 
  after 
  his 
  attention 
  was 
  turned 
  

   to 
  that 
  character, 
  he 
  would 
  have 
  made 
  an 
  error 
  in 
  grouping 
  the 
  species. 
  

  

  30. 
  E. 
  rubric 
  us, 
  ater 
  nitidus, 
  longius 
  helvo-pubescens, 
  tliorace 
  a 
  medio 
  antrorsum 
  angustato, 
  

   nigro, 
  basi 
  late 
  lateribusque 
  sanguineo, 
  punctato, 
  elytris 
  parallelis, 
  striis 
  profunde 
  punctatis, 
  interstitiis 
  

   paulo 
  convexis 
  punctatis, 
  pedibus 
  piceo-testaceis, 
  antennis 
  basi 
  testaceis, 
  articulo 
  3'° 
  2 
  nd0 
  paulo 
  

   longiore. 
  Long. 
  '31 
  — 
  -34. 
  

  

  Say, 
  Annals 
  of 
  Lyceum 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  New 
  York, 
  1, 
  261. 
  

  

  Middle 
  and 
  Eastern 
  States. 
  This 
  species 
  seems 
  to 
  resemble 
  very 
  much 
  Ampedus 
  con- 
  

   cinnus 
  Germ. 
  (Zeitschr. 
  5, 
  170,) 
  but 
  the 
  thorax 
  is 
  too 
  strongly 
  punctured, 
  and 
  the 
  third 
  

   joint 
  of 
  the 
  antenna) 
  is 
  not 
  twice 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  second: 
  in 
  none 
  of 
  the 
  specimens 
  seen 
  by 
  

   me 
  does 
  the 
  black 
  spot 
  of 
  the 
  thorax 
  reach 
  the 
  base. 
  In 
  a 
  specimen 
  from 
  Vermont, 
  the 
  

   thorax 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  narrowed 
  from 
  the 
  base, 
  but 
  as 
  the 
  form 
  is 
  not 
  symmetrical, 
  it 
  must 
  

   be 
  considered 
  as 
  a 
  distortion. 
  The 
  presternum 
  is 
  always 
  black; 
  the 
  under 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  

   thorax 
  is 
  sometimes 
  entirely 
  red, 
  sometimes 
  almost 
  black. 
  In 
  the 
  male 
  the 
  last 
  joint 
  of 
  

   the 
  antenna; 
  is 
  slightly 
  acuminate; 
  in 
  the 
  female 
  it 
  is 
  rounded. 
  

  

  31. 
  E. 
  obliquus, 
  supra 
  fusco-niger, 
  longius 
  cinereo-pubescens, 
  tliorace 
  sub 
  trans 
  verso, 
  parcius 
  

   punctulato, 
  antice 
  rotundatim 
  angustato, 
  margine 
  omni 
  testaceo, 
  elytris 
  subcuneatis, 
  macula 
  obliqua 
  

   basali 
  versus 
  suturam 
  latiore 
  lutca, 
  striis 
  profunde 
  punctatis, 
  interstitiis 
  parce 
  punctatis, 
  subtus 
  rufes- 
  

   cens, 
  pectore 
  infuscato, 
  antennis 
  fusco-testaceis, 
  articulo 
  3 
  10 
  angusto 
  4'° 
  longitudine 
  rcquali. 
  Long. 
  

   •20— 
  -23. 
  

  

  Say, 
  Trans. 
  Am. 
  Phil. 
  Soc. 
  6, 
  174. 
  

   Ampedus 
  scitulus 
  Germ. 
  Zeitschr. 
  . 
  r 
  >, 
  168. 
  

  

  