28 
Head and thorax deep, glossy black ; elytra uniform, glossy, pale red¬ 
dish-brown ; underside deep black. 
Elater hepaticus —Melsh. 
Length three-eighths of an inch; width one-fourth of the length ; 
thorax a shade broader than the elytra, the latter (elytra) not 
tapering so directly and rapidly to a point as in the preceding species 
but maintaining nearly the same width for two-thirds their length ; 
thoracic angles extending backward each in the form of a short spine ; 
elytra regularly and distinctly striate, about eleven striae on each 
elytron, and punctate, the raised interspaces with minute shallow 
punctures. Of an almost uniform dark brown color, head and thorax 
almost or quite black, elytra slightly paler towards the apex, partially 
covered with scattering hairs; legs pale reddish-brown. 
Elater obliquus —Say, 
This is a pretty little species, only about .16 of an inch long; quite 
narrow; thorax smooth and shining; elytra with very short hairs; 
thoracic angles spinous as in the preceding species; elytra tapering 
somewhat regularly to a point. Head black ; thorax brownish-yel¬ 
low with the tranverse middle portion dark brown ; elytra black ex¬ 
cept an elongate-elliptical yellow spot at the base of each extending 
from the outer anterior angle obliquely inward nearly to the suture 
and nearly half the length; underside pale brown. Antennae very 
distinctly serrate. The yellow spots on the elytra, shorter in some 
specimens than in others. 
j Elater nigricollis —Herbst. 
Same size as E. linteus and resembling that species in form and color, 
except that the elytra are generally lighter, approaching a creamy- 
white. Th© tips of the elytra in some specimens are pale brown, and 
the thorax dark brown. But the three species E. linetus, E. sanguini- 
pennis and E. nigricollis graduate into each other by almost impercept¬ 
ible shades of difference so that it is extremely difficult to separate 
them. 
On one species marked in my cabinet as E. nigricollis , which ap¬ 
proaches very near to E. sanguinipennis , T find ;two specimens of a minute 
oval, seed-like mite—either identical with or closely allied to Uropoda 
umbilica. —Pack. 
Monocrepidius lividus —DeG. 
Length about, or very slightly over, half an inch ; width the usual 
proportion; elytra tapering backward nearly regularly to a blunt 
rounded point, distinctly striate; striae with minute punctures,. in¬ 
termediate spaces not punctured; hairs minute and equally distribu¬ 
ted, thoracic angles distinctly spined; fourth joint of the feet bilobed. 
Of a uniform livid or flesh color, the minute yellow hairs giving it a 
slight ashen hue; legs pale yellow. 
This closely resembles Melanotus communis hereafter described, but 
