THE GltOUND BEETLES. 



85 



dd. Males with a prolonged spiniforin process at inner angle of di- 

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

 reddish-yellow. 114. cork users. 



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

 on third interval; thorax much narrowed at base; elytral stri.e punc- 

 tate. 115. EPHIPPTATl S. 



11] (445). Tachys l.evus Say, Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc, II, 1823, 88; ibid. 

 II, 503. 



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

 brown; antenna? 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 slightly 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 

 stria? ; marginal stria? 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 Carabidas. 



*112 (433). Tachys pboximus Say, Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc, II, 1823, 88; 

 ibid. II, 503. 



Elongate, subdepressed. Head 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; antenna? fuscous, the basal joints and legs 

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

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

 angles subrectangular. Elytra with two or three inner stria? 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 scitulus Lee, Ann. Lye Nat. 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-October 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 proximus. 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. 



