42 
THE ORDER OF OOLEOPTERA. 
them. They are introduced, here as probably indicating the natural re- 
lationship of the sub-families, and also because they form the basis of 
Dr. LeConte’s classification of this family. 
Sub-family OARABIDES. 
This sub-family contains nearly all the large species in the family, the 
[Fig. 8.] 
principal exception being the genus Pasi- [Fig. 9.] 
machus, in the family of Scaritides. These 
large species, constituting the Oarabides pro- 
per, are distinguished from all the rest of the 
family by the absence of the characteristic 
notch on the inner side of the anterior tibiae, 
near the extremity, and by having the two 
tibial spurs situated at the apex. All the 
other Carabidse have a conspicuous notch in Caiosojia 
this part, and one of the spurs is inserted ««»- 
above the notch. The anterior tarsi of the R^y- 
males are usually dilated, and spongy beneath. The palpi terminate in 
a large triangular joint, and this sub-family was therelore called, by 
Latreille, Grmdipalpi.- This division of the sub-family embraces the 
genera Carabus, Calosoma and Cychrus. The Calosoma calidum , a large 
black beetle, an inch in length, with three rows of golden dots upon each 
wing-cover, is one of the most common of the larger Oarabides. This is 
the species illustrated at figs. 8 and 9. 
But besides these large insects, a number of genera, composed of small 
and very different species, are usually included in this sub-family, in 
order to avoid a large number of primary divisions. This section con- 
tains the genera Elaplirus, botiophilus and Omophron, all of which are 
usually found in wet situations. Elaplirus ruscanus, resembling a small 
Cicindela of an ashen bronze color, and with round pits upon the wing- 
covers, is often found in abundance running upon the wet sand along 
the margins of water-courses. Notiophilus is composed ot small bionze- 
black species, not exceeding a quarter of an inch in length, and distin- 
guished from the small species in the other sub-families by their large 
prominent eyes, giving to the head a width greater than that of the tho- 
rax. Omophron is an extremely anomalous genus, resembling a Cocci- 
nclla or a Cassida much more than a Carabus. The species are rare in 
the northern States, but Omophron labiatum is common at the South, 
where its larvae are said to depart from the ordinary carnivorous habits 
of the family, by feeding upon the grains of growing corn. 
The most prominent characters of the leading N. A. genera are exhi- 
bited in the following table: 
