1352 



FAMILY LXIV. MELOID.E. 



Subfamily I. MELOINAE. 



The members of our single genus of 

 this subfamily are known as "oil bee- 

 tles." They are large, clumsy black or 

 bluish forms with short elytra, which do 

 not cover the unwieldy abdomen. They 

 have the tarsal claws cleft, the upper 

 and lower parts equal, and the antenna? 

 of the males are curiously dilated near 

 the middle. (Fig. 588.) Being wing- Fig . 588 . M *.*,l raa ] e beetle ; ' 2 ,W; 

 less, they are found on the ground or low (After Packard -) 



herbage, and are more common in late autumn or spring. When 

 disturbed they emit a disagreeable fluid from the joints. 



I. Meloe Linn. 1758. (Or., "small animal.") 



Three of the 14 species have been taken in the State and one 

 other perhaps occurs. 



KEY TO INDIANA SPECIES OF MELOE. 



a. Thorax not longer than wide. 



J). Color chill black ; thorax with an impression on basal half of median 



line - 2509. IMPRESSUS. 



II). Color blue or bluish-black; thorax not impressed. 



c. Thorax rather densely punctate ; elytra not roughly sculptured. 



NIGER. 



cc. Thorax coarsely and deeply, not densely, punctured ; elytra coarse- 

 ly sculptured ; color more decidedly blue and more shining. 



2510. AMERICANUS. 



a a. Thorax longer than wide, sparsely and irregularly punctate; color deep 

 bluish-black ; elytra finely rugose. 2511. angusticollis. 



2509 (S000). Meloe impressus Kirby, Faun. Bar. Ainer., 1837, 241. 



Dull black with a faint bluish tinge. Thorax about as wide as long, 

 widest at apical third, thence feebly narrowed to base; disk coarsely and 

 sparsely punctured and with an impression just behind the middle. Elytra 

 rather densely and shallowly rugose. Length 11-14 mm. 



Vigo County; rare. May 12. 



M. niger Kirby, blue-black, feebly shining, length 12.5-15 mm., 

 is known from Canada. 



2510 (8013). Meloe americanus Leach, Linn. Trans., XI, 1815, 251. 

 Bluish-black ; elytra more decidedly blue in male. Thorax about as 



wide as long, but slightly narrower than head ; rather densely punctate on 

 apical half, much more sparsely so on basal portion. Length 16-24 mm. 



Southern half of State ; scarce. April 10-December 25. Noted 

 only in late autumn and early spring. On October 28 I once found 



