420 PHYTOPHAGA. 



33. (Edionychis gracilis. (Tab. XXIV. fig. 14.) 



Below fulvous; base of the head green ish-seneous j antennae fuscous; thorax testaceous; elytra metallic 

 green, a longitudinal subsutural band and the extreme lateral margin pale testaceous, the surface nearly 



impunctate. 

 Var. a. The lateral margin of the ground-colour. 

 Var. b. Elytra entirely metallic green. 



Length 2-2£ lines. 



Head rugosely punctured near the eyes, the middle portion and the clypeus fulvous ; antennas short, black, the 

 three basal joints testaceous at their base ; thorax narrow, somewhat depressed on the middle of the disc, 

 the lateral margin scarcely rounded, the anterior angles pointed, but not produced into a tooth, the posterior 

 margin nearly straight, the surface uneven and with a few very fine punctures, testaceous ; scutellum black ; 

 elytra somewhat depressed, of a silky or finely alutaceous appearance, sometimes with a few fine punctures, 

 light green, a narrow stripe near the suture from the base to the apex and the extreme lateral margin 

 pale testaceous ; underside pale or darker fulvous, the posterior part of the breast and the anterior femora 

 sometimes piceous ; the first joint of the posterior tarsi not longer than the second, the claw-joint strongly 

 inflated. 



Hab. Mexico, Ventanas, Presidio (Forrer) ; Guatemala, near the city, Purula 

 (Champion). 



This variable little species may be known by the rugosely punctured space near the 

 •eyes, the short antennas, and the alutaceous elytra, which show scarcely any punctua- 

 tion. Unicolorous specimens (without the elytral bands) may be separated from 

 (E. cyanipennis, Fabr., by the much less shining elytra and the depressed disc of the 

 thorax, which is altogether of a different shape and narrower. (E. interjectionis, Crotch, 

 is described as having brownish-black elytra, and a black base to the head ; otherwise 

 it seems closely allied to the present species. 



ftf Mytra with transverse bands or isolated spots. (Species 34-69.) 



34. (Edionychis bipunctata. 



{Edionychis bipunctata, Chevr. Col. Mex. 1834, fasc. 3, nr. 64 1 . 

 (Edionychis boucardi, Harold, Coleopt. Hefte, xv. 1876, p. 122 2 . 

 {Edionychis insularis, Jacoby, P. Z. S. 1879, p. 445 3 . 



Hab. Mexico 2 3 , Vera Cruz \ Cordova, Playa Vicente, Toxpam, Tuxtla {Salle), Jalapa, 

 Oaxaca, Cerro de Plumas {Edge) ; Beitish Honduras, E. Sarstoon (Blancaneaux). 



At first sight, and according to the descriptions of the authors, the three insects united 

 here under one name seem certainly to be specifically distinct, if coloration alone is con- 

 sidered ; but two specimens, contained in the Salle collection, taken " in copula," prove 

 that in this case at least (E. bipunctata is but the female sex of (E. boucardi, in which 

 the bands of the elytra are absent, and the postmedial spot is greatly reduced in size, 

 but whether all the females are so marked I am, of course, unable to say. There is one 

 specimen before me in which all the darker markings are absent, and the elytra are 

 entirely testaceous ; in all other instances, however, a small apical spot is generally con- 

 stant, by which the species, I think, may be principally recognized. The male of 



