THE FLAT BARK BEETLES. 



569 



Subfamily IV. .TELEPH ANINAE. 



Two genera comprise this subfamily, one of which is repre- 

 sented in the State by a single species : 



VIII. Telephanus Erichs. 1832. (Or., "distant + glitter.") 



Elongate, slender, subtle pressed species, having the first joint 

 of antennae long, spindle-shaped; elytra broader than thorax, their 

 tips rounded; hind femora swollen; tarsi 5-jointed, the last joint 

 bilobed. 



*1085 (3353). Telephanus velox Hald., Proc. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci., III, 

 1846, 127. 



Pale brownish-yellow, closely and coarsely punctured; rather coarsely 

 pubescent; head and often the apical third of elytra fuscous. Antennae as 

 long as elytra ; apical half, except the last one or two joints, darker. Tho- 

 rax one-half longer than wide, narrowed behind the middle. Length 4 mm. 



Throughout the State; common. February 27-November 27. 

 Occurs more often beneath stones, chunks and dead leaves than be- 

 neath bark. "When exposed it usually remains quiescent with an- 

 tennae folded against sides, but if touched it runs with great swift- 

 ness, whence its specific name. 



Family XXII. CRYPTOPHAGIDiE. 

 The Silken Fungus Beetles. 



Belonging here are a number of beetles of small size, oblong or 

 oval in form and never very depressed. They are usually less than 

 2.5 mm. in length and often of a light yeilo wish-brown color, with a 

 silken lustre produced by a very fine pubescence. Their habits are 

 exceedingly variable, some living in fungi, others about wood and 

 chip piles or in cellars, beneath dead leaves, in rotten logs or on 

 flowers. They are to be taken in early spring by sifting and in 

 summer by beating vegetation or examining fleshy fungi. The 

 name Cryptophagidae implies that the insects com- 

 prising the family feed upon cryptogamous plants, 

 which include the mushrooms and fungi ; however, 

 they are much less fungivorous in habit than the 

 members of the next family. 



The principal distinguishing characters of the 

 family, briefly stated, are the 11- jointed antennae, 

 with joints 9 to 11 larger, forming a loose club ; 

 thorax nearly or quite as wide as elytra, often with 

 distinct basal impressions and usually with the 



dentatus. A European 



lateral edges modified by serrations or nodular bpecie& ' (After Sharp * 



