TUH'.K XI. P.ALANIXI. 20!) 



ee. Femora less stout; scape as long as joints one and two of fun- 

 icle united; thorax more narrowed at base, its sublateral 

 stripe less evident; vestiture less dense, causing a sooty ap- 

 pearance; occurs on Q. alba and other biennial-fruited oaks; 

 length 5.5 7.5 mm. 390. BACULI. 



(Id. Femoral tooth weaker, the femur clavate or swollen beneath the 

 tooth forming a small erect denticle at summit of swelling; 

 beak of male more than half the length of body; scape as in 

 bacilli; length 5.5 6.5 mm. Southern states only; probably on 

 oaks. 391. HUMERALIS. 



act. Outer edge of femoral tooth oblique, forming an obtuse angle with 

 lower edge of femur; beak nearly equal in the two sexes; pubescence 

 condensed on and behind scutellum; length 6 8 mm. Occurs on 

 hazel. 392. OBTUSUS. 



387 (89G1). BALANIXTS NASICUS Say, 1831, 16; ibid. I, 279. 



Oval, robust. Dark chesnut brown, densely clothed with dark brown 

 and clay-yellow scales; the latter forming a broad stripe each side on basal 

 half of thorax and large scattered spots with a tendency to form bands on 

 elytra; scales of under surface paler and broader. Beak of female about 

 as long as body, that of male shorter, evenly curved in both sexes; first 

 joint of funicle longer than second. Thorax short, distinctly wider than 

 long, sides broadly curved, constricted behind apex; disc coarsely and dense- 

 ly punctate. Elytra triangular, the sides scarcely curved and converging 

 very rapidly to apex. Femoral tooth strong, triangular, its cuter edge 

 perpendicular, forming with the apex of the femur a right angle which is 

 not rounded; tibia?, especially the hind ones, feebly mucronate. Pygidium 

 of male with moderately long silken hairs; of female scarcely exposed, with 

 short, sparse pubescence. Length 5 7.5 mm. 



Common throughout Indiana; April 25 Sept. 4. Lake City 

 and Dunedin, Fla., Oct. 31. Ranges from Massachusetts and 

 Canada west to Kansas and Colorado, south to Florida. Found 

 from April to October on various species of oak. 



The Balanini occurring on oaks, which do not possess the dis- 

 tinctive characters of rcctus, viz.: a straight beak in female and 

 concave fimbriate pygidinm in male, are far from a homogeneous 

 assemblage. In possessing a curved beak that is scarcely ever 

 longer than the body in female and notably shorter in male, they 

 do agree, but there are differences even in the length of beak, and 

 still more noticeable differences in color, mac-illation and develop- 

 ment of femoral spine. Say's name nasicus clearly applies to all 

 such specimens as cannot be identified with one of the descrip- 

 tions that follow, because misicus was the first in respect to date. 

 This may lead the student, whose material comes from widely 

 separated regions or includes depauperated or other unusual in- 

 dividuals, into grouping under this name a more or less hetero- 



