THE CHPES1D BEETLES. 



893 



upon the front; the tuberculate head, stretched out forward and 

 suddenly constricted behind and attached to the thorax by a dis- 

 tinct neck ; thorax small, quadrate, the side margins well denned ; 

 presternum well defined with a slight point behind fitting into the 

 mesosternum ; front coxa? small, not prominent, their cavities trans- 

 verse, open behind ; mesosternum with the side pieces excavated for 

 the middle legs ; hind coxaa transverse, flat, silicate behind, receiving 

 the thighs in repose ; abdomen with five free ventral segments ; legs 

 slender, contractile; tibiae without terminal spurs, tarsi 5- jointed, 

 spongy beneath, their claws simple. 



The name of the family is based upon that of the typical genus, 

 Cupes, which is derived from the Latin word of the same form 

 meaning "dainty" or "fond of delicacies." "Why Fabricius gave 

 such a name to these beetles is not manifest, as the larvae are said to 

 breed in decaying wood. 



The principal literature treating of the family is as follows : 



LeConte. — "On the Cupesidae of North America," in Trans. 



Amer. Entom. Soc, Y, 1874, 87-88. 

 Casey. — "Synopsis of the Genus Cupes," in Ann. N. Y. Acad. 



Sci., IX, 189T, 637-638. 

 One of the two genera is represented in the eastern United 

 States by three species, one of which occurs in Indiana. 



I. Cupes Fab. 1801. (NL., "fond of dainties.") 



This genus has the flanks of the thorax excavated for the recep- 

 tion of the front legs and the eyes strongly convex. 



1697 (5382). Cupes concolor Westwood, Zool. Journ., V. 440. 



Elongate, slender, subdepressed. Pale brownish or ashy gray, densely 

 covered with small scales ; elytra with darker brown oblong dashes or 

 blotches, which form three indistinct undulated bands. Antenna? nearly as 

 long as the body. Head with four feebly separated tubercles, with a nar- 

 row impressed line between them. Thorax wider than long, about half the 

 width of elytra ; disk with a median longitudinal carina and a deep impres- 

 sion each side; side margins abbreviated near the front and hind angles. 

 Elytra with rows of large quadrate punctures; intervals convex, the alter- 

 nate ones higher. Length 7-11 mm. 



Lake, Wells, Putnam, Vigo and Posey counties, one specimen 

 from each. June 22 -July 25. One was taken from the cavity of 

 a ripe apple, the others beneath bark. Say described it as C. cin- 

 erea, stating that he had obtained numerous specimens in the vicin- 

 ity of New Harmony, where it was common about old frame houses. 



