Memoirs on the Coleoptera/Volume 1/New Species of the Staphylinid Tribe Myrmedoniini/Tribe Myrmidoniini/Group Athetæ/Atheta/Anepsiota

by Thomas Lincoln Casey

Anepsiota Csy.

The species of this subgenus are moderately large in size, of heavy build and unusually broad abdomen, this in the majority being fully as wide as the elytra. The antennæ in typical forms, such as the type (A. quadricollis Csy.), are long and rather strongly incrassate, the basal joint of the hind tarsi much longer than usual, the infra-lateral carinæ of the head subobsolete and the middle coxæ approximate.

Atheta (Anepsiota) torpens n. sp.—Stout, shining, piceous, the head darker, the abdomen black, the prothorax, elytra and legs more or less pale, the antennæ blackish throughout; head transversely oval, the eyes not prominent, at fully their own length from the base; antennæ moderately long, thick, much incrassated distally, the penultimate joints rather distinctly wider than long; prothorax large, convex, two-fifths wider than long, parallel and evenly rounded at the sides, much wider than the head and slightly narrower than the elytra, with a small rounded indentation before the base, the punctulation minute and very sparse; elytra large, parallel, almost as long as wide, much longer than the prothorax, minutely, simply and much more closely punctulate and micro-reticulate; abdomen as wide as the elytra, parallel, the sides just visibly arcuate, polished, the punctulation minute and remote; basal joint of the hind tarsi distinctly longer than the second but much shorter than the next two; metasternum almost truncate, very feebly arcuate medially. Length 2.6 mm.; width 0.8 mm. California (San Mateo Co.).

Resembles insignis Csy., from San Francisco Co., but differs in its feebler and sparser punctulation, longer elytra, stouter antennæ and other characters.

Atheta (Anepsiota) shastana n. sp.—Rather stout and shining, testaceous, the head and abdomen, except at tip, blackish, the legs pale; antennæ fuscous, pale basally; head orbicular, the eyes small, at much more than their own length from the base, not at all prominent; antennæ long, gradually and distinctly incrassate, the tenth joint as long as wide, the eleventh gradually acutely pointed, as long as the two preceding; prothorax two-fifths wider than long, parallel, with evenly rounded sides, rather convex, much wider than the head and evidently, though not greatly, narrower than the elytra, minutely, sparsely punctulate, the basal impression very small and subobsolete; elytra much wider than long, the suture but little longer than the prothorax, finely, closely punctulate and micro-reticulate; abdomen perfectly parallel, with straight sides, not quite as wide as the elytra, the fourth and fifth tergites equal in length, the sixth (♂) very broad, arcuato-truncate, the edge nearly even but the surface adjoining with a series of feeble irregular beading defined at each side by a feeble straight oblique carinule, its general surface strongly reticulate and with small sparse granules. Length 2.75 mm.; width 0.72 mm. California (Siskiyou Co.).

Not closely related to any other Anepsiota and not quite typical in its rather narrower abdomen, longer, though slender, mesosternal process and sexual characters; the first three joints of the hind tarsi decrease rapidly in length.