1 88 MEMOIRS ON THE COLEOPTERA 



elsewhere smooth and punctureless; slender hind tarsi much shorter 

 than the tibiae. Length (9) 12.6 mm.; width 6.3 mm. Honduras 



(San Pedro Sula) *hondurana n. sp. 



3 Form slightly more elongate than in rugiceps but otherwise nearly 

 similar in size and outline; head coarsely rugose, the clypeus reflexed 

 at apex and with two broad teeth; frontal carina feeble, interrupted 

 at the middle; prothorax almost punctureless medially, the punctures 

 more evident at the sides and especially toward the apical angles; 

 elytral striae geminate-punctate, the intervals between the geminate 

 rows extremely finely and sparsely punctate, the subsutural or 

 first alternate interval coarsely and confusedly punctate, the second 

 and third alternate intervals coarsely punctate in more or less distinct 

 single series, especially in basal half; pygidium rugosely punctured 

 near the base, more sparsely toward apex; anterior tibiae tridentate, 

 without incisure above the upper tooth; tarsal claws simple in both 

 sexes. Length 15 mm. Arizona (Nogales). [Ligyrus snbglaber 

 Schf.] subglabra Schf. 



As tending to show the comparative unimportance of what, in 

 some parts of the Coleoptera, would be rather radical taxonomic 

 mandibular characters, it should be said that in rugiceps the rather 

 slender, apically upturned mandible is simply prominently and 

 obtusely swollen, punctured and setose externally, this prominence 

 representing a second tooth, while in hondurana, there are two large 

 subequal teeth, separated by a small deep notch, the apical tooth 

 obtusely acuminate and upturned. Hondurana is apparently larger 

 than the South American Heteronychus humilis of Burmeister and 

 with much less inflated elytra, the latter having a radically different 

 system of punctuation; in hondurana the punctures are all minute, 

 annular and abruptly limited, while in humilis they are compara- 

 tively coarse, each having at the bottom a minute annulus and with 

 fine interspersed punctures much more evident. The side margins 

 are also said to be distinctly and simply punctate, while in hondurana 

 there is no such appearance. 



Ligyrus Burm. 



This is a large genus, inhabiting all parts of North and South 

 America, excepting the subarctic Pacific regions of the continent. 

 The species often occur in great abundance and some of them are 

 probably important from an economic standpoint. The body varies 

 in form according to the group to which it is assignable. There are 

 a number of these subgeneric groups and the four represented by 

 material in my collection may be defined as follows: 



