EPITOSUS.—PSEUDELISSA. 151 
distinctions, except that some examples are a little broader than others, and may 
be females. . 
PSEUDELISSA. 
Pseudelissa, Casey, Ann. New York Acad. iv. p. 273 (1888). 
Casey has recently established the two genera Hlissa and Pseudelissa for some small 
Curculionide from the Southern United States, and has distinguished them, inter alia, 
by the former possessing prothoracic vibrisse, while in the latter the prothorax is 
said to be “ almost completely devoid of vibrisse.” I now refer to the genus Pseudelissa 
an insect in which the prothoracic vibrisse are present, though in a not very conspicuous 
manner. ‘This I do because I find that the vibrissze are undoubtedly present in Pseud- 
élissa cinerea, Casey's typical species, though, as he says, in a most rudimentary 
manner—the front margin of the prothorax bearing all round it some sete placed 
widely apart, and these just behind the eye being a little longer and slightly more 
approximate. It should also be noticed that in P. cinerea the eyes are placed quite 
close to the prothoracic margin.’ In the Mexican insect that I assign to Pseudelissa 
the eyes are placed some distance in front of the prothorax, and one or two of the 
sete of the prothoracic margin are elongated so as to form true vibrisse. Casey 
gives as another character of Pseudelissa that the mentum is rather deeply seated ; 
this character was no doubt observed correctly in the specimen examined, but it was 
almost certainly due to a post-mortem contraction, as the mentum is quite superficial 
in the specimens I have examined of P. caseyi and P. cinerea. Notwithstanding these 
slight detractions from the validity of the characters given to differentiate Pseudelissa 
from Elissa I think the two should be maintained as distinct, Hlissa possessing a well- 
marked scutellum and a remarkably broad mentum, as well as a very peculiarly-shaped 
prothorax. 
Casey, making use of Lacordaire’s classification, correctly assigned EHilissa to the 
“Tanymécides,” which group is supposed to receive all the Otiorhynchids that have 
no trace of ocular lobes, but that do possess vibrisse. lissa and Pseudelissa are, 
however, unnaturally placed amongst the “Tanymécides,” and I should limit that 
group to forms that possess wings, while the two genera under discussion are certainly 
apterous. I accordingly place them in the “Otiorhynchine aptere,” where they will 
form a small group characterized by the scrobes being lateral in situation and angulate 
in front, and by the anterior margin of the prothorax being provided with a peculiar, 
membranous border, formed of agglomerated scales. 
1. Pseudelissa caseyi, sp.n. (Tab. VI. fig. 16.) 
Niger, indumento griseo, in elytris fusco-submaculato vestitus; capite prothoraceque profunde rugosis ; elytris 
interstitiis alternis breviter setosis. 
Long. 4—5 millim. 
Hab. Mexico, San Luis Potosi (Dr. Palmer). 
