TENEBRIONID.E 193 



third joining the margin at basal fourth; punctures fine and sparse, 

 simple; abdomen shining, slightly punctate posteriorly. Length 



(9 ) 15.0 mm.; width 7.0 mm. Colorado obsidiana n. sp. 



Sides of the prothorax almost evenly and strongly arcuate throughout 



the length 3 



3 Sides of the prothorax strongly arcuate. Form broad, oblong-oval, 

 more ventricose in the female; head very moderately impressed, 

 less coarsely and closely punctate than in consentanea; prothorax 

 nearly two-thirds wider than long, convex, minutely and sparsely 

 punctulate, shining to opaculate, the rather narrow but deeply 

 concave sides not rugose but only moderately strongly and sparsely 

 punctate, the strongly reflexed edge rather thin, convex transversely 

 and minutely punctate throughout the length; apical angles fre- 

 quently rather blunt; elytra shorter, scarcely more than a third 

 longer than wide, but very little (cf) to a fourth (9 ) wider than the 

 prothorax, obtuse behind, the apical lobe extremely short and un- 

 differentiated; sides parallel and evenly arcuate; surface shining, 

 sometimes alutaceous in the female, minutely and irregularly creased 

 and finely, sparsely punctate; under surface rufo-piceous to deep 

 black, shining, the abdomen nearly smooth, punctate apically; 

 prosternum and propleura smooth and very minutely, remotely 

 punctulate, the meso- and metapleura granose, the latter very feebly 

 however; tarsi very slender. Length (cf, 9) 12.0-15.0 mm.; width 

 6.6-8.0 mm. Kansas and Nebraska. [Asida polita Say]. 



polita Say. 



A Body broad, oblong-oval, moderately convex, deep black through- 

 out; head moderately impressed, sparsely punctate, gradually 

 rather strongly so anteriorly; antennae gradually slender basally; 

 prothorax short, nearly three-fourths wider than long, the apex fully 

 three-fourths as wide as the base, the angles right and not very 

 blunt; sides evenly, rather strongly arcuate from base to apex, nearly 

 as in polita throughout but opaque and with a feeble transverse 

 impression at each side before the base; edges strongly reflexed, 

 rather thin but becoming thick near the basal angles; elytra very 

 short, only little more than a fourth longer than wide, rapidly 

 narrowing behind, the lobe broad and moderately defined, widest 

 slightly behind the middle, the sides broadly arcuate, very feebly 

 converging and straight from the middle to the humeral angles, 

 less than a fourth wider than the prothorax; surface broadly, 

 feebly convex above, opaque, minutely and intricately creased, 

 with patches of finer reticulation, the small punctures very feebly 

 impressed; each elytron with vestiges of three broad and slightly 

 more convex vittae; side margins rather acute as far as the middle 

 but reflexed as usual only near the base; under surface and legs 

 as usual; tarsi very slender. Length (cf ) 12.0 mm.; width 6.4 mm. 



Kansas subopaca n. subsp. 



B Body narrower and more parallel than in any other species, 

 opaque, the anterior parts alutaceous, the under surface rufo- 



T. L. Casey, Mem. Col. Ill, March, 1912. 



