1974] 
Peck — A gyrtes 
505 
Distribution. The species is known only from the coastal ranges 
of central and southern California. In addition to the type I have 
seen the following specimens : 
California. Alameda County, Alameda, i-iv-90, 1 (Koebele colln., 
CAS). Los Angeles County. Pasadena, Jan., 1; Feb., 1; Mar., 1; 
(Fenyes Colln., CAS). Pomona, mountains, 15-XU96, 1 (Fall 
colln., MCZ) . “Cala,” no other data, 2 (Horn colln. in MCZ). 
Biology. Nothing is known of the habits or life cycle of this 
beetle. The collection records show that it is active only in the 
winter months. It is presumably associated with forested habitats. 
Notes. There is a remarkable similarity in the dorsal view of the 
aedeagus and of the paramere of A gyrtes bicolor Lap. of central 
Europe (as illustrated by Hlisnikovsky, 1964) and of A. similis, but 
other characters in the key of Hlisnikovsky seem to separate the 
species. The aedeagus of A. bicolor in side view is not illustrated. 
I have not studied material of A. bicolor, although I have seen the 
Hlisnikovsky collection in Prague. 
Acknowledgements 
I wish to thank the following for having made available for study 
material in the collections under their care: M. J. Campbell, Cana- 
dian National Collection of Insects, Ottawa (CNCI) ; H. Dybas, 
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago (FMNH) ; J. M. 
Kingsolver, U. S. National Museum, Systematic Entomology Lab- 
oratory (USNM). J. F. Lawrence, Museum Comparative Zoology, 
Harvard University (MCZ) ; H. B. Leech, California Academy of 
Sciences, San Francisco (CAS). H. F. Howden and J. F. Lawrence 
are thanked for reviewing the manuscript. L. E. C. Ling of Carle- 
ton University took the SEM photographs. 
Literature Cited 
Casey, T. L. 
1924. Memoirs on the Coleoptera, XI, 346 pp. 
Fall, H. C. 
1937. Miscellaneous notes and descriptions (Coleoptera). Can. Ent., 
69: 29. 
Hatch, M. H. 
1957. The beetles of the pacific northwest. Part II: Staphyliniformia. 
Seattle: Univ. Wash. Pub. Biol., 16, 384 pp. 
Hlisnikovsky, J. 
1964. Zur Kenntnis der Gatung Agyrtes Lap. (Coleoptera, Silphidae, 
Agyrtini) . Reichenbachia, 2: 275-278. 
