144 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



The species as above arranged are readily divisible into 

 three groups, one comprising the first six species of the table, 

 the second represented by lata and the European /wsc^pes, 

 which is closely related thereto but apparently wholly foreign 

 to America, and the third by the last nine species of the table, 

 which differ greatly from the others in the long antennae, 

 gradually and evenly incrassateto the tip. The characters of 

 the genus as given in the table of genera are common to all, 

 however, and these groups could not be considered worthy of 

 subgeneric designation in any way. The second antennal 

 joint is always distinctly shorter than the third, generally very 

 distinctly so but less conspicuously in some of the species of 

 the third group. The vestiture throughout the genus is short, 

 stiff, subdecumbent and fulvous in color, rather close and 

 conspicuous on the anterior parts but, though still stiffer and 

 longer, it is very sparse and less distinct on the abdomen. 

 The male pectination of the sixth tergite in the first division 

 of the table is more constant than in Maseochara^ where 

 it is subject to considerable accidental variation, but, at the 

 same time, it is someys^hat uncertain in Aleochara as well and 

 is only employed in the table in conjunction with other 

 peculiarities of structure. 



The identification of lustrica Say, with fuscipes Fabr., is 

 another instance of carelessness in systematic work, tending 

 to render our lists of Coleoptera common to Europe and 

 America virtually useless. The European examples of lata 

 Grav., appear to have the elytra a trifle shorter than the 

 American as a rule, and, although in my opinion perfectly 

 conspecific, they may be the form inscribed in the lists as 

 StapJiylinus {Aleochara) brachypterus Fourc; if not, I do 

 not know this species, described from France; it is not in the 

 European catalogue of Hey den, Reitter and Weise. The 

 European crass^com^s Lac, and lateralis Heer, resemble pleu- 

 ralis very much in outward form but do not in reality belong 

 to the same group, the form of the antennae showing that they 

 are members of the lata and fuscipes division of the genus. 

 They are not specifically identical, if the specimens in mj 

 cabinet are correctly identified, one having the punctured 



