278 [ FEBRUARY, 
The following species are unknown to me: 
N.obscurus Kirby, Fauna Bor. Am. 97. 
N. hebes Kirby, Fauna Bor. Am. 96. Nova Scotia. 
N. maritimus Man. Bull. Mose. 1843, 251; Chevrolat, Guérin’s Icon. 
Regne An. 60, pl. 17, fig. 8; Sitka. 
NN. uo losne| Bech (teste Motschulsky, ibid. 1815, part i. p. 52.) 
N. defodiens Man. Bull. Mosc. 1846, 13; Sitka and Unalaschka. 
In Illiger’s Magazin (6, 271 note,) Herschel mentions N. carolinus Linn., 
but after a very careful search, I cannot find any such species in Linnzus’ 
works, nor is it mentioned by any other author. 
SinpHa Linn. 
The following arrangement of the species is the most natural that I have been 
able to form; it must be remembered at the same time, that the intermediate 
cox in all our species are moderately distant : 
A. Antenne articulis tribus ultimis longioribus. 
a. Antenne laxe articulate ; oculi prominuli. 
1.8. surinamensis Fabr. Ent. Syst. 1, 248; Syst. El. 1, 336; Linn. 
Syst. Nat. (ed. Gm.) 4, 1620: ibid. (ed. Turton,) 25 99; Olivier, wile tab. 2, fig. 
11; Herbst, Kafer, 5, 173. 
Necrodes surinamensis Latr. Gen. Crust. et Ins. 1, 498. 
Common in the Middle, Southern and Western States. Varies in having a 
small lateral spot at the middle of the elytra, and sometimes a small discoidal 
one between the 2d and 3d costa. ‘The posterior thighs of the male are very 
much incrassated, and armed beneath with a sharp tooth ; the posterior tibiz are 
also much curved, and dilated internally towards the apex into an obtuse angle. 
I have excluded the synonym of Kirby, (Fauna Bor. Am. 99,) because the 
males of his Nova Scotia species are stated to have the posterior thighs very 
slightly enlarged. This needs confirmation by a re-examination of the original 
specimens now in the British Museum. 
b. Antenne minus laxe articulate. 
a. Thorace subinequali piloso; antenne articulo 3io longiore. 
2. S.lapponica Herbst, Kafer, 5, 209, pl. 52, fig. 4. 
S. caudata Say, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. 3, 192. 
S. tuberculata Germar, Ins. Nov. 81. 
S. californica Mannerheim, Bull. Mose. 1843, 253. 
Oiceoptoma ( Thanatophilus) lapponieum Kirby, Fauna Bor. Am. 100. 
Otceoptoma granigera Chevrolat, Col. Mex. fase. 1ma. 
Found in every part of the northern portion of the continent, not extending 
south of Albany (New York) in the Atlantic States, but in the central region 
extending into New Mexico, and even into Mexico; found also in Oregon and at 
San Diego in Southern California. 
I have only referred to the original description of Herbst, leaving out all the 
rest of the European synonymy, as it should have no place in a local fauna. 
The elytra of the males vary slightly i in form, being sometimes truncate, and 
sometimes slightly sinuate; those of the female are more deeply sinuate at the 
extremity, and are more or less prolonged at the suture; the anterior tarsi are 
slightly dilated in the males. 
The differences upon which are founded the various synonyms above quoted, 
are entirely individual: they are all found intermixed together wherever the 
Species occurs. 
8. Thorace glabro; antenne art. 2 et 3 subequalibus. 
* Thorace equali, elytris truncatis. 
3. 8. truncata Say, Journ Acad. Nat. Sc. 3, 193. 
Forks of Nebraska River. 
** Thorace inzquali, elytris integris. 
4.8. marginalis Fabr. Ent. Syst. Mantissa, 215; Syst. El. 1, 338; 
