THE SHOBT-WINGEI) SCAVENGER BEETLES. 



463 



893 (2686). Megalops rcfipes Lee. N. Spec. N. Amer. Col., I, 1863, 51. 



Resembles cwlatus. Elytra each with a small red spot on humerus 

 and another at the inner apical angle. Head and thorax punctate as in 

 ccelatus, the thorax 'with two impressions each side. Elytra much smoother, 

 the disk with two abbreviated rows of coarse deep punctures. Length 3 mm. 



Knox County ; rare. June 9. One specimen from beneath bark 

 at edge of cypress swamp. Described from Georgia. 



LXXII. Bledius Leach. 1832. (A proper name.) 



Elongate, slender, subcylindrical species having the tarsi 3- 

 jointed; head smaller and narrower than thorax, base scarcely con- 

 stricted; middle coxa? contiguous; front tibiae with two rows of fine 

 spines on outer side. The genus is a very large one, and the species 

 exceedingly difficult to separate. The great majority of the North 

 American species of this and the other genera of Oxytelini are 

 treated in the following papers : 



LeConte. — "On certain Genera of Staphyliniche, as represented 

 in the Fauna of the United States,'' in Trans. Amer. Ent. 

 Soc, VI, 1877. 213-248. 

 Casey. — " Coleopterological Notices." in Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 



V, 1889, 11-89 ; VII, 381-398. 

 LeConte divides the species into five groups, four of which are 

 probably represented in Indiana. 



KEY TO INDIANA GROUPS OF BLEDIUS. 



a. Thorax without an edge on sides or prosternal sutures beneath. 



Group A. 



a a. Thorax with the edge on sides well defined. 

 b. Prosternal sutures distinct. 



c. Fissure at side of front coxal cavities short, closed. Group B. 

 cc. Fissure of front coxal cavities open and large, extending two- 

 thirds the distance from the coxa to the side. Group C. 

 hit. Prosternal sutures obliterated ; fissures of front coxal cavities short, 

 closed ; hind angles of thorax obtuse. Group D. 



Group A. 



Rather large brownish-yellow species, not shining, finely gran- 

 ulate, not strongly punctured. Thorax broader than long, truncate 

 in front, sides parallel, suddenly and strongly narrowed from 

 middle to base ; hind angles wanting, disk with a distinct median 

 line. Two . of the seven species recognized by LeConte have been 

 taken in Illinois and doubtless occur in Indiana. They are: 



B. gularis Lee. 7.5 mm. in length, having the head, suture, diago- 

 nal tip of elytra and last two abdominal segments blackish ; gula 

 [30—23402] 



