84 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. Ill 



LUDIUS TESSELLATUS (Linnaeus) 9 



Figures 8, d; 19, a, b, d, f, g; 20, a, b, e 



Elater tesscllatmn Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 10, vol. i, p. 406, 1758. 

 Elater holosericeum Olivier, Entomologie, vol. 2, No. 31, p. 27, 1790. 

 Ludius tcssellatus (Linnaeus), Eschscholtz, in Thon's Entomologisches 



Archiv, vol. 2, p. 34, 1829. 

 Prosternon holosericeum (Olivier), Latreille, Ann. Soc. Ent. France, vol. 3, 



p. 152, 1834. 

 Corymhites tcssellatus (Linnaeus), Germar, Zeitschr. fur die Ent., vol. 4, p. 62, 



1843. 

 Prosternon tessellatiim (Linnaeus), Du Buysson, Faune Gallo-Rhenane, vol. 5, 



p. 84, 1894. 

 Prosternon tesscllatum (Linnaeus), Schenkling, Coleopt. Cat. (ed. Junk), 



vol. 2, pt. 88, p. 399, 1927. 



This species is known from northern and central Europe. The 

 larva has been described from Denmark by Schiodte (1870, p. 518) 

 and Henriksen (1911, pp. 267-268) and from Germany by Beling 

 (1883, pp. 272-273). 



The larvae inhabit both soil and decaying wood. The specimens 

 used in the present study were collected from a beech stump, forest 

 moss, and an old grass plot, and under stones. Schiodte records the 

 larvae from meadow soil and Beling found larvae and pupae under the 

 bark of rotten stumps of pine (Pinus silvestris Linnaeus). Xambeu 

 (1912-13) states that the larvae feed upon xylophagous insects. That 

 they are chiefly predaceous is further indicated by the total absence of 

 records of plant damage by larvae of this species. Pupation occurs 

 from late July to early August. The adults develop in August but 

 spend the winter in their pupal cells. 



Ludius tessellatus may be distinguished from its nearest European 

 relatives by the following characters : Dorsum dark brown ; 3 to 6 

 "sensory" appendices on the second joint of antenna (fig. 19, d) ; 

 frons bluntly pointed posteriorly and terminating before reaching 

 foramen magnum (fig. 19, b) ; and urogomphal prongs subequal or 

 inner prongs only slightly longer than outer prongs (fig. 20, a, b, e). 

 It is very similar in structure to the American species medianus 

 (Germar), from which separation is best secured on the basis of 

 distribution. 



Description of "mature" larva. — Length 14 mm. ; greatest breadth 

 2.5 mm. on fourth and fifth abdominal segments. Largest larva ex- 



9 Li certain parts of Europe the name tcssellatus Linnaeus is still used in 

 reference to larvae of sjaelandictis Miiller, in spite of the fact that these are 

 distinct species, the synonym of sjaelandicns Muller being tcssellatus Fabricius, 

 nee Linnaeus. 



