TRIBE XXI. - CRYPTORHYNCHINI. 483 



III. BHYSSEMATUS Schon., 1837. (Gr., "rough" + "skin.") 



Oval, convex, robust, nearly glabrous, black or dark brown 

 species, having the beak shorter than head and thorax, cylin- 

 drical, moderately curved; funicle 7-jointed, two basal joints 

 rather longer, 3 7 much shorter ; thorax wider than long, scarcely 

 narrower at base than elytra, strongly narrowed near apex, disc 

 strigose with raised lines; femora toothed beneath; tibiae with an 

 acute tooth near apex. Occur mostly on milkweed (Asclepias), 

 the larvae breeding in the seed-pods and pupating in the ground. 

 The species have been treated by 



Horn, G. H.Proc. Am. Phil. Soc., XIII, 1873, 463. 

 Casey, T. L. Ann. N. 1. Acad. Sci., VIII, 1895, 832. 



KEY TO EASTERN SPECIES OF RHYSSEMATUS. 



a. Elytra with pale brown pubescent spots; strigse of thorax strongly 

 oblique; scutellum densely hairy. 755. PALMACOLLIS. 



aa. Elytra wholly black or piceous; scutellum nearly glabrous. 



b. Alternate elytral intervals more strongly carinate; humeral car- 



inas short. 



c. Thorax with sides subparallel near base, its strigae not oblique; 



larger, 5.5 6.5 mm. 756. LINEATICOLLIS. 



cc. Thorax with sides converging from base to apex, its strigge 



more or less oblique and converging toward the middle; 



smaller, 4.8 5 mm. 757. ANNECTANS. 



bb. Elytral intervals nearly equal, feebly carinate, the humeral carinae 



entire; strigae of thorax oblique; smaller, not over 4 mm. 



758. 



755 (S741). RHYSSEMATUS PALMACOLLIS Say, 1831, 16, 27; ibid, I, 279, 295. 



Short, oval, robust. Black, feebly shining, elytra obsoletely spotted 

 with brownish, especially near apex, the spots slightly pubescent; scutellum 

 densely clothed with brownish hairs. Beak as long as thorax, rather stout, 

 slightly widened, somewhat flattened and sparsely punctured near tip; 

 its basal two-thirds striate, finely carinate above. Thorax nearly twice as 

 wide at base as long, sides gradually curved from base to apex; disc with a 

 fine median carina and numerous oblique strigae radiating therefrom. Ely- 

 tra with suture and each alternate interval acutely carinate, with two rows 

 of coarse, deep oblong punctures between the carinae. Body beneath coarse- 

 ly, abdomen and legs more finely and densely, punctured, each puncture 

 bearing a short yellowish hair at bottom. Length 4.5 5.7 mm. 



Vigo, Posey, Crawford and Clark counties, Ind., scarce; April 

 G Sept. 27. Taken beneath drift in low ground in April ; from 

 goldeurod in September. Lake Okeechobee, Fla., March 1. A 

 member of the Austroriparian fauna, ranging from District of 

 Columbia and southern Ohio to Florida and Texas. Bred bv Dr. 



