THE SLENDER SEED-CORN GROUND-BEETLE. 17 



maxillary palpi conical, long, parallel, and surpassing the mandibles by fully three- 

 fourths their length; antennae disappearing behind the fore and middle pairs of legs, 

 coming into view again between the middle tibiae and the elytra. Setae showing but 

 slightly until just before emergence of adult. 



Legs: Fore and middle legs directed forward so that the maxillary palpi touch the 

 anterior face of the anterior tibiae near the distal extremity; anterior faces of the large, 

 terminal, tibial spurs nearly touching; tarsi touching for almost the entire length, and 

 lying between and above the tarsi of the middle legs, extending posteriorly. Middle 

 tibiae just posterior to front tibiae, parallel to and very close to them. Claws divergent. 

 Middle tarsi partly beneath the wings, their ventral surfaces facing. Hind tarsi 

 extending beyond the wings and converging at the posterior margin of the sixth 

 abdominal segment; ventral surfaces facing; claws divergent. 



Elytra and wings completely covering the hind legs, with the exception of the tarsi, 

 and almost touching beneath. No setae on the ventral surface of the abdomen. 



The pupal stage lasts from nine to ten days. When found in the 

 fields the pupa is always inclosed in a little, oblong, earthen cell, 

 about one-third of an inch long. Immediately after pupating it is 

 a delicate creamy-white color. The eyes gradually turn darker, first 

 becoming red and then black. Other parts of the body change to a 

 darker yellow and then to a brownish color. The pupa is inclosed 

 in a delicate, transparent, membranous covering, which splits down 

 the dorsum when the adult emerges. Pupae are found at a depth of 

 from a few inches to about 2 feet, depending, apparently, on the 

 amount of moisture in the soil at the time of pupation. 



THE ADULT. 



The adult (fig. 9, d, g; fig. 10) is of a dark, shiny-red color and is 

 somewhat flattened and elongate. The w T ing covers are narrower 

 than the thorax. The hinder part of the body articulates with the 

 prothorax by means of a short peduncle. The fore legs are very 

 broad and somewhat flattened, the tibia? bearing several large teeth. 

 The original description by Le Conte will probably not be out of 

 place here : 



Length 3£ lines; breadth $ line; dark rufous; front with three wide and deep longi- 

 tudinal impressions, the middle ones abbreviated at the ends so as to form an oblong 

 fovea; thorax oblong, rounded behind, but little convex, with longitudinal line deeply 

 impressed; elytra narrower than the thorax, parallel, striate; stria? punctate, third 

 interval with impressed points. 



When it first issues from the pupal case the adult, or beetle, is pale 

 yellow in color, gradually turning to the characteristic shiny red. 



NUMBER OF GENERATIONS. 



It seems that there are no well-defined broods or number of gen- 

 erations. The species breeds throughout the entire season, very small 

 larvae up to full-grown pupae and adults being found at any time 

 during the summer. The sexes were found in copula, June 14. 1909. 



