1286 FAMILY L VIII. — MELANDRY ID2R. 



alutaceous, almost smooth or with a few punctures near the base Elytra 

 as m resplendens. Length (3.5-8 mm. 



Southern two-thirds of State; frequent. May 24-July 10. 

 Beaten from oak and other foliage. 



Family LVIII. MELANDRYID M. 

 The Melandryid Bark Beetles. 



This group comprises about 70 known North American species, 

 varying much in form and size, though usually elongate and loosely 

 jointed, with the thorax margined at sides, broad behind and often 

 marked with two basal impressions. They occur beneath bark or 

 m dry fungi and are black or brown in color, often thickly clothed 

 with fine silken hair, only a few species being marked with paler 

 spots or bars. The larvae are slender, cylindrical in form and occur 

 m the same places as the adults. The name is derived from that of 

 the typical genus Melandnja, meaning 4 'black -oak or tree." and 

 was so called because the insects live chiefly under the bark of trees. 



In addition to the characters above mentioned, the Melandryida3 

 have the maxillary palpi 4-jointed, usually long, more or less en- 

 larged in the form of saw-teeth, the last joint being the longest and 

 hatchet-shaped; head usually defiexed, rarely constricted behind the 

 eyes, the latter emarginate or entire and rather coarsely granu- 

 lated; antennae 11-jointed. usually filiform; thorax in most genera 

 as wide behind as the base of elytra, which are rounded at tips and 

 cover the abdomen, the latter with five free ventral segments-, front 

 coxae large, oval, the cavities open behind: middle coxae with dis- 

 tinct trochantins ; hind coxae contiguous or nearly so ; first joint of 

 hind tarsi always much elongated ; tarsal claws variable in the 

 tribes. 



No paper dealing with the North American species of the family 

 as a. whole has been published, only isolated genera having been 

 treated from time to time. These, as far as known to me, "are as 

 follows : 



LeConte.— "Synoptic Table of Hallomenus." in Proc Amer 



Phil. Soc. XVII, 1878, 619. 

 Z/om,— "Notes on the Mycteridae and other Heteromera," in 



Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, VII, 1879. 336-339. 

 Born.— 11 Miscellaneous Coleopterous Studies." in Trans. Amer 



Ent. Sec. XV, 1888, 32-4-1. Contains a table of the tribes 



composing the family and synopses of several of the genera. 

 Casey.— "Review of the Tribe Tetratomini, " in Journ. N Y 



Ent, Soc, VIII, 1900, 166-172. 



