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280 [FEBRUARY, 
riorly ; in the female they are prolonged and obliquely narrowed, so that the 
body appears somewhat ovate. Of this form I have one female, from Fort 
Snelling (Minnesota) and another from Wisconsin; one male from Nebraska and 
one from Oregon. 
&. Of this form I have only a single female specimen from California; the 
body is elliptical, narrower than (2), the thorax not so short; the margin of the 
elytra broad and strongly reflexed, the apex obliquely narrowed as in the pre- 
ceding, but not longer than the abdomen; the slight tubercle on each elytron be- 
hind the middle is more apparent. Color greenish black. 
y- Color greenish black. Form regularly elliptical, narrower than the males 
referred to (¢); thorax not so short, less narrowed in front; elytra broadly 
rounded behind in both sexes, margin narrower than in the others, and strongly 
reflexed. Very abundant in California. 
Besides these, I have two specimens which cannot be classed with any of the 
above, and perhaps indicate other forms, which, however, cannot at present be 
distinctly separated. 
The first is from Nebraska. It isa dull black male, having the thorax less 
narrowed in front than (2), and the margins of the elytra narrower, as in (7), 
but less reflexed. The proportions of the body are as in the male of (2). 
The second was found at San Diego, with (7); it is a greenish black female of 
more dilated form, having the proportions of the male of («), and having the 
elytra broadly rounded, as in (7), the margin, however, appears less strongly 
reflexed than in that form; the tubercle of the elytra behind the middle, is more 
obvious than in (2) or (y). 
These forms appear to be subject also to considerable variation in the sculp- 
ture of the elytra; the punctures between the branching elevated lines are 
sometimes very distinct, and sometimes almost obsolete. 
The following is unknown to me: 
Oiceoptoma (Thanatophilus) trituberculatum Kirby, Fauna Bor. 
Am. 101. 
Found in lat. 54°. With this is probably identical the © Sz/pha opaca Auct.’ of 
White, in Richardson’s Arctic Expedition (p. 474). Whether Kirby’s insect is 
in reality distinct from the European S. opaca Linn., or is related to it as the 
forms of S. ramosa are to each other, must be left for future investigation. 
Necropuiuus Latr. 
1. N.hydrophiloides Man. Bull. Mosc. 1843, 253 ; Chevrolat, Guérin’s 
Icon. Regne An. 61, pl. 17, fig. 12. 
San Francisco, in decomposing human excrements. Nothing in Mannerheim’s 
description, or Chevrolat’s figure and description, indicates any difference be- 
tween Sitka specimens and those found by me, although a direct comparison 
ought to be made in order to establish their identity. 
Motschulsky, (Bull. Mose. 1845, p. 363,) states that what is considered as a 
black variety of this species, is distinct, and thereupon names it N. ater; with 
his accustomed haste, he leaves the distinctive characters to be determined by 
any individual who is so lucky as to possess such rarities ; as few have had access 
to species from Russian America, an expression of opinion upon this matter 
might be dangerous; for those, however, who would prefer adopting the belief 
that there is but one species, until a second is demonstrated, | may mention 
that the species found by me varies from piceous to black, and that there is no 
other difference between differently colored individuals. 
Cators Fabr. 
A. Thorax angulis posticis obtusis. 
1. C.opacus, ater, punctulatus, subtiliter pubescens, thorace semi-elliptico, 
basi late rotundato, elytris obsolete striatis, tibiis calcaribus magnis armatis, 
Long. °23. 
Say, Journ. Acad. Nat. Se. 5, 184. 
New York and Ohio, rare. The male has three joints of the anterior tarsi 
