29 
may be distinguished from that species by the absence of the fissures 
in the posterior margin of the thorax found in the latter. 
Ludius attenuatus —Say. 
Length four-fifths cf an inch ; head small and thorax much narrow¬ 
ed anteriorly, the lateral margins rounded; elytra tapering somewhat 
regularly to the pointed tip; antennae very distinctly serrate : the 
region around the scutel deeply indented ; elytra minutely punctured 
throughout, striae almost entirely obsolete. The color is usually de¬ 
scribed as “reddish-brown except the terminal oblique third of the 
elytra which is black;” but the specimens marked by Mr. Walsh and 
those I have collected are as follows: Head black, antennae dark brown; 
thorax purplish-brown; elytra black ; underside reddish-brown. Sur¬ 
face smooth shining. [See Fig. 1.] 
Agriotes mancus —Say. 
“Clypeus truncated; body punctured; thorax with an impressed 
line behind the middle; posterior angles slightly excurved. 
“Body black, punctured, with short hair; head with large, profound, 
dense punctures; clypeus elevated, emarginate each side near the an¬ 
tenna, and truncated before ; antennae and palpi, rufous; thorax 
with an impressed line behind the middle; punctures numerous, 
profound, equal to those of the head, but not so dense ; posterior an¬ 
gles prominent, verv slightly excurved, carinate above, posterior edge 
slightly bidentate near the middle; an elevated abbreviate line on 
the posterior margin near the lateral carina; scutel entire at base; 
elytra have the punctures of the striae oblong and approximate; in¬ 
terstitial lines with minute punctures furnishing hairs ; feet reddish. 
“Length seven-twentieths of an inch. Inhabits Missouri.” 
The specimens found in this State have usually been assigned to 
A. pubescens, but the two species can scarcely be considered as distinct. 
Melanotus incertus —Lee. 
This species and all belonging to this genus have the claws 
pectinate or comb-like, but it requires a rather strong glass to observe 
this character. 
Length from a half to six-tenths of an inch ; widest across the latter 
part of the thorax where it is equal to about one-fourth the length ; 
the elytra taper regularly and straight to the tips, distinctly and 
somewhat sharply grooved, punctured in the grooves, the interme¬ 
diate spaces flattened and sometimes with a few nearly obsolete punc¬ 
tures; body covered with closely appressed yellowish hairs ; antennae 
distinctly serrate, each joint tipped with two or three hairs. Thora¬ 
cic angles extending obliquely backward in the form of short triangu¬ 
lar spines. Color uniform brown or dark-brown, varying in some 
specimens almost to black. 
Melanotus depresses —Melsh. 
Exactly like the preceding except that it is smaller and that the 
thorax in this species is very minutely punctured, almost smooth, 
