This species occurs from Cape Breton (Boisdale) to the District of 

 Columbia, and westward to Lake Superior. It is an abundant species 

 throughout New England, New York and Pennsylvania. It is probable 

 that Say described from Pennsylvania specimens, although he gives 

 no locality. 



A. lutosus Lee. Melsh. Cat. 1853, p. 31. 



discolor \\ Lee. Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y. V, 1851, p. 204. 

 lecontei Cr. Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. IV, 1873, p. 417. 



Head and thorax black, usually with distinct aeneous lustre ; elytra yellowish 

 brown, often with the disk more or less infuscate, sometimes with fuscous irrora- 

 tions; body beneath black, epipleura yellow; legs and antennae rufous, the femora 

 often more or less piceous. Elytra in the male smooth and shining, but with a 

 very fine and feeble reticulation, of which the meshes are irregular, some contain- 

 ing a minute puncture. In the female the reticulation is coarse and deep and the 

 surface much duller, the meshes distinctly longitudinal baso-medially, and the 

 apex, especially near the suture becomes much smoother. In the male the pro- 

 tarsi are very widely dilated, the glandular pubescence beneath bearing quite large 

 palettes ; anterior protarsal claw with a conspicuous median acute tooth. Length 

 7 to 8 mm. 



Lutosus inhabits the Pacific coast region from Vancouver to 

 Southern California, and next to lug ens is the commonest species 

 of Agabus within that area. It does not seem to extend to any dis- 

 tance east of the Sierra Nevadas, but I have seen specimens from 

 Independence, California, on the western edge of the desert, and 

 from Dalles, Oregon. The type was taken at San Francisco. 



This species was described by LeConte in 1851 under the name 

 discolor, but this name being preoccupied by Harris (1828^ he changed 

 it to lutosus in his Revision of the Melsheimer catalog in 1853. It 

 would seem necessary to use the latter name notwithstanding the 

 fact that LeConte later inadvertently applied it to another species. In 

 1873 Crotch gave it the name lecontei, and as such it has since been 

 universally known. 



A. griseipennis Lee. Smithson. Cont. Knowl. XI, 1859, p. 5. 



Very similar in structure and general appearance to lutosus, with which it will 

 probably .be found confused in some collections. Males may be distinguished 

 from lutosus by the tabular characters. Females of the two species are greatly 

 alike and may not be separable with certainty in the absence of males. It may 

 be said, however, that except for specimens taken at or near the western limit of 

 its range, the locality label will prove a tolerably safe guide to identification. The 

 dilation of the male tarsi reaches its maximum in these two species, and is even 

 a little greater in griseipennis than in lutosus. Length 7.4 to 8.5 mm. 



Griseipennis inhabits the Rocky Mountain and Plateau region, at 

 the western limit of which it comes in contact with the territory 

 occupied by lutosus. It is rare in collections, and when present is 



22 



