360 MEMOIRS ON THE COLEOPTERA 



Mecas Lee. 



The species of this genus are somewhat intermediate in appearance 

 between Saperda and Oberea and are moderately numerous. The 

 species described by Say under the name Saperda inornata, from the 

 Missouri River regions, cannot be identified, the annulate antennae 

 and subacute elytral apices preventing any legitimate identification 

 with saturnina Lee., where the antennas are not annulate and the 

 elytral tips broadly and evenly rounded, just as in per grata. Senes- 

 cens Bates, may be identical with the Mexican Saperda cinerea of 

 Newman; of this I have no means of judging, but that it is the same 

 as inornata Say is altogether improbable. Hamilton states, on 

 other authority, that the Saperda cana of Newman, described from 

 Florida, is the same as saturnina, but I am disposed to doubt this 

 determination very strongly and therefore do not adopt it. It is 

 rather to be supposed that cana does not extend from the warm 

 moist climate of Florida to the semi-arid regions of Kansas; this 

 would be highly improbable on general reasoning alone. The 

 species represented in my cabinet, which include all but cana if 

 this be really a Mecas and femoralis Hald., may be distinguished 

 as follows:* 



Tarsal claws not cleft, but with a small oblique acute tooth just beyond 



the middle 2 



Tarsal claws deeply cleft 4 



2 Body black, clothed densely above, beneath, on the legs and on the 

 under surface of the subbasal antennal joints with short and uni- 

 formly cinereous-gray hairs, the erect hairs numerousand also grayish- 

 white; front evenly convex, the lower lobe of the eyes very broadly 

 rounded beneath; antennae ( 9 ) not quite as long as the body, black, 

 clothed sparsely, except as stated, with very short and not at all 

 dense fuscous hairs, the joints without trace of annulation, the fringe 

 sparse; prothorax slightly transverse, widest and with the sides 

 feebly swollen at basal two-fifths, thence a little more narrowed to 

 the apex, which is not quite as wide as the base; surface evenly 

 convex, rather sparsely, moderately and subevenly punctate, with- 

 out trace of callous or glabrous spots; scutellum clothed like the 

 elytra, the latter nearly two and one-half times as long as wide, 

 parallel, only slightly wider than the prothorax, the apices very 

 broadly and obtusely angulate; surface even, the punctures rather 

 small and sparse; fifth ventral (9 ) a third longer than the fourth, 

 broadly sinuato-truncate, the discal stria fine, entire; last dorsal 



* I have very recently received an example of femoralis, collected by Mr. Manee 

 at Southern Pines, North Carolina; it is smaller than any other species and very dis- 

 tinct by reason of the less dense and very even vestiture and red femora. 



