t 



Wickham — Fossil Beetles from the Sangamon Peat. 145 



Olophrum intekglaciale new species. 



.Represented by several elytra, 2*25''"" long, I'lO""^ wide, 

 black, rather sinning, subtruncate apically with the outer angle 

 rounded off, punctuation confused, strong, moderately coarse, 

 much of it confluent so as to form poorly defined transverse 

 rugae, no strise visible, but the sutural bead shows faintly in 

 some specimens. The outer margin is deflexed as in Oloph- 

 rum, the line of flexure with a sharp edge. 



While the generic reference cannot be made with any cer- 

 tainty, these elytra are apparently staphylinidous, judging from 

 their form, size and sculpture. In all these respects they 

 approach more nearly to Olophruw. ohtectum than to any other 

 insect known to me, but are darker in color and even more 

 strongly and closely punctate. Scudder has described three 

 species of this genus from the interglacial clays of Scarborough, 

 Ontario, but O. interglaciale appears to differ, by descriptions 

 and figures, in being more strongly and closely punctured than 

 any of these. In general, Olophrum may be considered rather 

 boreal than otherwise in distribution. I find 0. ohtectuTm 

 chiefly under bits of wood in damp places and have met with 

 0. Totundicolle in swamp land near Leadville, Colorado. 



DONACIA STIRIOIDES UCW SpCcicS. 



An elytral fragment, belongs to Donacia and resembles in 

 fine strial sculpture a recent specimen in my cabinet collected 

 at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, labelled D. pusilta Say, var. cujgrea 

 Kirby. The fossil is flattened, the strise fine but quite sharp, 

 punctures small, not very well defined, interstitial spaces much 

 wider than the strige, relatively coarsely transversely rugose. 

 The color is metallic blue or purple. As exposed, the piece 

 measures 3*85""^ in length by 1'50 in breadth. 



Two other small fragments are associated with the foregoing 

 but may perhaps not be specifically identical. I cannot refer 

 this fossil to either of the species described by Scudder from 

 the Scarborough beds since hi^ D. jpompatica has deep strise 

 with larger punctures and D. stiria is said to have an exces- 

 sively fine transverse rugulation. In North America, Donacia 

 is much more abundant northward and D. piisilla^ with which 

 the present species has been compared, is more particularly 

 characteristic of the country from Hudson Bay to Vancouver 

 Island, southward to Oregon, California, Idaho, Colorado, and 

 the Lake Superior district. The genns frequents swamp land 

 and the shores of lakes, breeding in the vegetation common to 

 such localities. 



State University of Iowa, 

 Iowa City, Iowa. 



