56 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. Ill 



Material used in study. — Only two specimens, from the "Uni- 

 versity Woods," Urbana, III., were used in the present study. These 

 were not associated with reared adults and were identified primarily 

 through their eastern locality. On the basis of adult characters, Brown 

 (1936c) indicates that L. inflatus (Say) is the only eastern species 

 closely related to L. glauciis (Germar). The larvae examined are de- 

 posited in the Canadian national collection. 



THE LUDIUS EDWARDSI GROUP 



Figures 13, c; 16, c, d, f 



KEY TO SPECIES 



1 . From North America 2 



From Siberia spretus (Mannerheim) (p. 63) 



2. Urogomphal prongs (fig. 16, c) relatively straight, with short, curved 



tips; full-grown larvae exceed 20 mm. in length; in forest areas. . . . 



Ltidius cruciatus festivus (LeConte) (?) (p. 62) 



Urogomphal prongs (fig. 16, d) curved, with long, curved tips; full- 

 grown larvae do not exceed 16 mm. in length; in prairie and open 

 parklands sexualis Brown ( ?) (p. 57) 



On the basis of larval characters, three species have been included 

 in this group, namely, the Siberian spretus (Mannerheim), the North 

 American sexualis Brown, and an unidentified species. 



It is possible that the unidentified larvae are Ludiiis cruciatus 

 festivus (LeConte), which occurs in wooded areas of western North 

 America. On the basis of adult characters, Brown (1935a, pp. 1-3) 

 places the European cruciatus (Linnaeus) and its American subspecies 

 in the cruciatus group, which is closely allied to the edwardsi group. 

 Whether this distinction is supported by larval characters cannot be 

 determined without accurately identified larval material. However, 

 the larvae of both spretus and sexualis inhabit the soil of prairie and 

 parklands whereas the larvae here regarded as cruciatus festivus 

 are found in forest soil. 



Larvae of the edwardsi group are known to injure cultivated crops, 

 especially cereals. 



This group is characterized as follows : The body is widest in the 

 region between the mesothorax and the third abdominal segment, the 

 ninth abdominal segment is subquadrate (fig. 16, /), the urogomphi 

 resemble grappling hooks (fig. 16, c, d), and the pleurites in the an- 

 terior abdominal segments are less than three- fourths as long as the 



