THE MEASUREMENTS OF A BEETLE. 



23 



the brief descriptions which follow, and the keys should, therefore, 

 always be used in connection with the descriptions. It is also im- 

 portant to bear in mind that the characters used and statements 

 made, both in the keys and descriptions, are to be considered as ap- 

 plying only to the species of the Indiana fauna or those of adjoin- 

 ing States. They may be, and in general are, capable of much 

 wider application, but it is not safe to assume that such is the case. 



In the "keys to genera" are included the characters leading up 

 to the names of those genera which, from their known representa- 

 tion in adjoining States, are probably represented in Indiana, even 

 though no species belonging to them has as yet been taken. The 

 same is often true of the "keys to species." Many species are 

 therein included, but not thereafter described, whose known range 

 is such that it is very probable that they occur in some part of the 

 State. The future collector or student will therefore be able to 

 identify almost any species which may come to hand from Indiana 

 or adjoining territory. 



The number in parenthesis before the name of each species is 

 that of the Henshaw "List of the Coleoptera of America north of 

 Mexico," or the Third Supplement to the same. 



The dates given after the description of each species are only 

 the earliest and latest at which the species has been noted in the 

 State and do not, therefore, necessarily show the actual time of 

 appearance or disappearance. The asterisk (*) preceding the name 

 of a species indicates that the species was taken in the winter sea- 

 son in Vigo County, and was mentioned specifically in my "Notes 

 on the Winter Insects of Vigo County, Indiana," published in 

 Psyche, vol. VII, 1895-96. 



Measurements. — Since the beetles are mostly of small size, the 

 unit of measurement used in the descriptions is the millimetre 

 (mm.) which = .0394, or a little more than of an inch. The 

 smaller divisions of the accompanying scale (Fig. 5a) show, as ac- 



1 2 3 4 5 6 7 



Fig. 5a. 



curately as can be represented, the length of a millimetre. For all 

 practical purposes it may be remembered that 2.5 mm. = inch; 

 3 mm. r= | -f inch; 4 mm. - -J- -f- inch; 5 mm. — 4- inch; 7.5 mm. = 

 -i^-inch; 10 mm. = finch; 12.5 mm. = \ inch; 15 mm. = f inch; 17.5 



