3S2 



FAMILY XXIII. — MrCETOPHAGID-i;. 



1110 (3390). Ephistemus apicalis Lee, X. Sf. X. A. Col., I, 1'^''"- <'-■ 



Oval, convex. Black or piceous-black, shining, without punctures ; ely- 

 tra gradually feebly paler on apical half : legs and antennae paler. Thorax 

 transverse, the sides evenly curi-ed. Elytra one-third wider than thorax 

 and about three times as long, the tips narrowly rounded. Length 1 mm. 



Lake, Parke and ilarion counties : scarce. April 23-^uly 1. 



Family XXIII. :MYCET0PHAGID.E. 



The H.VIET Fixers Beetles. 



To this famil.v belong a limited miml)er of small, oval, slightly 

 ciiiivi-x beetles, vhich live on funtri and beneath bark. They have 

 the upper surfa<-e hairy and dei'^.-ly pniK-tiired and the elytra are 

 lirown nr blackish, usually prettily marked with yeUow spots or 

 bands, or yellow with black spnts. The name. Maceiophagidce, is 

 from two Greek words meanin": "funtrns"" and "to eat," and is in- 

 dicative of the habit.s of the insects. 



The principal distincfuishiug charaetHis ni the 

 MyeetophaL'ids are the ll-.i^inted antennae, inserted 

 immediately in front of the eyi ■,. the outer joints 

 gradually or suddenly enlarged; eyes rather large, 

 with cuarse facets : thorax as wide as elytra at base; 

 elytra covering the abdomen and rounded at tip; 

 front coxa? oval, rounded, narrowly separated, the 

 canities either widely open or closed ; middle coxa? 

 rounded, narrowly separated; hind coxae trans- 

 verse: abdomen with five free and equal ventral 

 segments : legs slender, tibise nearly linear, with 

 small terminal spurs; tarsi filiform, -t-iointed. the front nnes of the 

 males 3-jointed, more or less dilated and pubescent beneath. (Fig. 

 21S. I 



As already noted under the family Crypt^phagida, the genus 

 Diplocalus has been transferred from this family to that; while 

 the species listed by Henshaw under the genus Triphylliis have been 

 shown by Casey to belong to the family ^I(?landryidc'e. and the one 

 under Bfrginus to the Ptiuid*. This leaves but five genera, and, 

 according tn Casey's list, about 25 species of Myeetophagidae from 

 North America. Only about lOf) species are known from the entire 

 world. 



The principal literatnic trcalinc of the Xoi-tli American species 

 is as follows: 



species. (After Sharp 



