Moved from Hemicrepidius bilobatus.

Moved from Athous.

Old Vulcan proverb: when you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth....matches with a specimen I have from KY; both a little paler than my GA specimens but the only Hemicrepidius in the area with pronotal angles lacking carina.

I hadn't noticed earlier that this guy is exposing himself. When keying elaterids to the species level, most external characters are on the head and prothorax so you rarely go 'down south' (externally).

The genitilia look nothing like orvus or other members of the cucullatus complex in Becker's 1974 treatment of the eastern Athous. Please keep in mind, these are hand-drawn pictures from the 1970's.

The five species with similar genilia (and why I initially excluded them) are as follows:

rufifrons: A. rufifrons should have hairy and not membranous tarsal pads. This specimen clearly has membranous pads.

brightwelli: The genitilia looks a little off from brighwelli (the median structure in Becker's illustration doesn't go beyond the lateral lobes, but does in this specimen). A. brightwelli is a very good fit with regards to size, color and lack of carina on the pronotal hind angles. However, brightwelli should have simple punctures on the hypomeron and lateral sides of the pronotum, and this specimen clearly has umbillicate punctures.

productus: Once placed in the genus, Denticollis, this one's gestalt (based on an MCZ type) seems way off. The size is good, as are the punctures and lack of pronotal carina, but the color is way off. A. productus is usually nearly black, sometimes bicolored. I have not seen any variation of this species, or description of such, indicating they would be this unform reddish brown. Still this is one to keep as a possibility. Probably need to examine a good reference series for comparison.

ornatipennis: A. ornatipennis described size is under 7 mm.

sierrae: The species in the sierrae species complex are generally smaller and none recorded east of Wyoming (Becker, 1979).

spent 45 min on this guy and gonna go on to others for now. Will revisit. Cannot find a single eastern species in either of Becker's (1974, 1979) publications that match this. Nothing fits with this comination:

-punctures on hypomeron and pronotum umbilicate
-size (>13 mm)
-no carina on hind angles
-uniform reddish brown color

The BEST option is probably just a large Athous orvus, which is in the cucullatus complex. In this species, the carina on the hind angles is documented as being 'difficult to see' and the hypomeron is inmpunctate near the base. Athous orvus is also paler than the other two. It is a little big for orvus (by 1-2 mm). Members of the cucullatus complex are supposed to have small spines on the elytral humeri. I cannot find these either, but I have also had problems finding these on cucullatus proper (they are tiny).

Will revisit. For now, most-likely a large A. orvus...

It might be brightwelli; I dont remember all the key features off-hand. I just know what what is currenly on BugGuide for brightwelli is not that species (brightwelli should not have carina on the pronotal hind angles, and the specimens currently posted there clearly do).