THE GROUND BEETLES. 85 



<Id. ilales with a prolonged sijiuiform process at inner angle of cli- 

 lated basal joint of front tarsi ; elytra uniform piceous or dark 

 reddish-yellow. 114. corruscus. 



aa. Elytra with the marginal stria deep, entire; two small dorsal punctures 

 on third interval ; thorax much narrowed at base ; elytral strioa punc- 

 tate. 115. EPHIPPIATl s. 



Ill (-145). Tachys l.kvus Say, Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc, II, 1S23, 8S ; ibid. 

 II, 503. 

 Oblong, subdepressed. Head and elytra piceous; thorax dark reddish- 

 brown; antennae bead-like (Fig. 54, b), fuscous, two basal joints and legs 

 pale. Thorax narrowed behind, nearly twice as wide as long; sides strongly 

 curved to near the base, which is sliglitly narrower than apex; basal im- 

 pressions small, deep ; hind angles obtuse, not carinate. Elytra about one- 

 half wider than thorax, with a sutural and one to three abbreviated dorsal 

 striie; marginal strire obsolete. Length 1.2-1.5 mm. 



Throughout the State ; frequent. March 18-June 17. Occurs 

 especially beneath leaves along the borders of marshes. Our smal- 

 lest Tachys and one of the smallest of our Carabidse. 



*112 (4.33). Tachys peoximus Say, Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc, II, 1823, SS ; 

 ibid. II, .503. 

 Elongate, subdepressed. Plead and thorax piceous ; elytra dull yellow, 

 usually with an ill-defined dusky cloud on the middle of disk, their surface 

 shining with a silken luster; antennae fuscous, the liasal joints and legs 

 dull yellow. Thorax subquadrate, one-half wider than long, as wide at 

 base as apex, sides cuiwed in front, more or less sinuate behind ; hind 

 angles subrectangular. Elytra with two or three inner striae distinct, not 

 punctate, the others obsolete. Length 2.7-3.2 mm. 



Throughout the State, common in the southern counties ; less so 

 northward. February 26-October 31. Hibernates as imago. 



113 (435). Tachys scitx-lxjs Lee, Ann. Lye. Xat. Hist., IV, 1848, 471. 



Slightly elongate, depressed. Dull reddish-yellow, the head, and rarely 

 the thorax, darker ; elytra with a more or less distinct fuscous or piceous 

 cross-band behind the middle; antenna^ fuscous, the basal joints and legs 

 dull yellow. Thorax subquadrate, as wide at base as apex, nearly twice 

 as wide as long; sides curved to behind middle, thence oblique to base, hind 

 angles obtuse. Elytra one-half wider than thorax, finely striate, the four 

 or five inner stria? usually distinct, not punctate. Length 2. .5-3 mm. 



Southern half of State; frequent; much less so northward. 

 April 19-betober 17. Occurs on mud flats or beneath rubbish close 

 to water. The females of this species are difficult to separate from 

 the paler ones of proximns. They have the thorax proportionally 

 wider as compared with the length, the sides very slightly if at all 

 sinuate near base. The color is usually more reddish, with the dark 

 discal space forming a transverse band instead of an ill-defined 

 blotch. 



