1326 



FAMILY LXII. ANTHICID M. 



Kosciusko County; rare. June 19. Described from two speci- 

 mens taken by sweeping low herbage in dense woods. 



2462 (7861). Mordellistena sutukella Helm., Proc. Phil. Acad Nat Sci 

 XVI, 1864, 105. 



Robust, wedge-shaped. Dense uniform black, except the suture, which 

 is very narrowly gray. Length 4.3-5 mm. 



Tippecanoe County; frequent. June 21-June 25 Taken by 

 Wolcott. 



M. discolor Melsh, length 3.5-4 mm., occurs in the "Middle and 

 Southern States," and has been recorded from Cincinnati. 



Family LXII. ANTHICID M. 

 The Ant-like Flower Beetles. 

 Medium or usually small-sized beetles varying much in form but 

 agreeing in having the head drooping and strongly constricted be- 

 hind the eyes into an abrupt slender neck; thorax narrower than 

 elytra; hind cox* not prominent; tarsal claws almost always simple 

 Some of them bear a striking resemblance to ants, and others are 

 remarkable for a prominent horn on the front of the thorax They 

 occur for the most part on flowers, though some live in rotten wood 

 and others m burrows in sandy places near water. None of them 

 are known to be in any way injurious. The name Anthicidae is 

 from that of the typical genus Anthicus, meaning variegated or 

 "like a flower." 8 



In addition to the characters mentioned, the Anthicidae have the 

 antennae nearly filiform, rather long, 11-jointed, inserted before the 

 eyes at the sides of the front ; elytra rounded behind, covering the 

 abdomen, which has Ave, rarely four or six, free ventral segments- 

 front coxae conical, prominent, contiguous, the cavities confluent 

 and (except in Dilandius) open behind; middle coxas with dis- 

 tinct trochantins; hind ones transverse, nearly contiguous except in 

 the tribe AntUcini; tarsi with the next to last joint usually emar-i- 

 nate. 



About 1,150 species of Anthicida? are known, 265 of which are 

 listed from North America, Casey having described 138 of them in 

 a single paper. The following is the principal literature treating of 

 these North American forms : 



LeConte.— '^Synopsis of the Anthicites of the United States, " ^ 

 Proc, Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci., VI, 1852, 91-104. 



