Casey — Observations on the Staphylinidae. 187 



Ma^eoc/tara J though much more finely and less strongly. I 

 have never observed any pectination of this plate in genera 

 having the mesosternum carinate, though it may occur. The 

 mesosternum and its intercoxal process are margined at each 

 side along the acetabula by a smooth polished and rather 

 deep gutter, which is better developed than in any other 

 genus; these channels will be alluded to below as coxal 

 grooves. Our species are moderately numerous but do not 

 seem to occur in the true Pacific coast fauna to any notable 

 extent, the nearest approach known to me being the single 

 example of tahoensis which I took some years ago. The six- 

 teen species in my cabinet may be readily known by the fol- 

 lowing characters : — 



Sixth dorsal plate broader at apex in the male than in the female and pec- 

 tinate with short triangular teeth, simple in the female; antennae more 

 or less stout, ehort or moderate in length, the outer joints strongly 

 transverse, the last obtusely pyrlform 2 



Sixth dorsal simple and subtruucate at apex in both sexes, broader in the 

 male, the antennae variable 8 



2 — Head obviously more than half as wide as the prothorax. Body mod- 



erately stout, subparallel, shining, the head and pronotum blackish - 

 piceous, the elytra pale, blackish at the sides except near the base, the 

 abdomen deep black, the apex scarcely picescent ; head and pronotuoi 

 finely, evenly, rather sparsely punctate, the eyes large, not prominent; 

 antennae not quite as long as the head and prothorax, tbe joints four to 

 six gradually increasing, six to eleven equal in width, stout, the snba- 

 pical obtrapezoidal, scarcely twice as wide as long; prothorax three- 

 fourf.hs wider than long, narrowed anteriorly, the sides and base 

 broadly rounded; elytra twice as wide as long, distinctly shorter than 

 the prothorax, finely, rather closely but feebly punctate; abdomen as 

 wide at base as the elytra, thence, gradually, moderately narrowed to 

 the tip of the fifth segment and coarsely, only moderately sparsely 

 punctate, the sides straight; mesosternal process wide, flat, not quite 

 extending to the tip of the coxae, truncate at tip, the sides extending 

 further than the median punctate part, which, at the apical width of 

 the process before the tip, is nearly four times as wide as the coxal 

 grooves; metasternal process broadly angulate, between points of 

 tangency with the acetabula about six times as wide as long; basal 

 joint of the hind tarsi not quite as long as the next three combined. 

 Male with the sixth tergite subrectilinearly truncate and having about 

 eleven small equal triangular teeth, each wider at base than long. 



Length 4.3 mm.; width 1.4 mm. Texas texana n. sp. 



Head not more than half as wide as the prothorax and generally less S 



3 — Sixth tergite of the male broadly sinuate at tip. Body stout, shining. 



