70 INDEX TO MISSOURI ENTOMOLOGICAL REPORTS. 



able to dispel in a measure the confusion that surrounds the nomenclature of the spe- 

 cies. There is need of a description of so injurious an insect, and as faba> is not pre- 

 occupied I adopt the name because it is entirely appropriate and because it is more 

 easily rendered into terse popular language than varicornis. 



It resembles most closely of any other species which I have seen, the B. erythrocerus, 

 Dej., which, however, is smaller, and differs in having a narrower thorax which has 

 light sides and a dark, broad dorsal stripe divided down the middle by a pale narrow 

 line : eryllirocerus is further distinguished by the antennae being entirely testaceous 

 and the hind thighs more swollen. 



From obsohtus Say, fabce differs materially : obsoletu^is a smaller species, dark gray, 

 with the antennae all dark, the pygidium not rufous, the thorax with a perceptibly 

 darker dorsal shade so that the sides appear more cinereous, a white scutel, and each 

 interstitial line of the elytra with a slight appearance of alternating whitish and 

 dusky along its whole length ; for though there is nothing in Say's language to indi- 

 cate whether it is the interstitial lines that alternate transversely, whitish and dusky, 

 or each line that so alternates longitudinally, I find from an examination of a speci- 

 men in the Walsh collection, that the latter is the case, and so much so that the insect 

 almost appears speckled. The two species differ both in size and color, though, as 

 Say's description is short and imperfect it is not surprising that fabce should have been 

 referred to it. 



From the European bean-feeding Br. flavimanus (which is apparently either a cleri- 

 cal error for, or a synonym of Br. rufimamis, Schcenh.) as described by Curtis, it differs 

 notably ; as it does likewise from their Br. serratus, 111., which also attacks beans. 



Dr. LeConte, according to Mr. Rathvon, was inclined to consider this insect the 

 obsoletus of Say, from the fact that in specimens which the latter gentleman sent him, 

 the antenna? were not varied as in his MS. varicornis, but uniformly black. A few 

 specimens which Mr. Rathvon sent me nearly two years ago, taken from the same lot 

 as were those which he forwarded to Dr. LeConte, were singularly enough, all decap- 

 itated but two ; and these two showed the varied antenna?. These specimens had all 

 been kept in alcohol, and I am greatly inclined to believe that the uniformly dark 

 appearance of the antenna? that was noticed by LeConte was the effect of the alcohol 

 on those which naturally had the rufous joints but faintly indicated. At all events, 

 though Mr. Rathvon tells me that he found a small proportion of beetles with dark 

 antenna?, after examining, at my suggestion, over two hundred specimens that had 

 thus been kept in alcohol ; yet from over one hundred specimens Avhich he had the 

 kindness to send me, I only find (after thoroughly drying them) three with the ter- 

 minal joint really as dark as the subterminal, and not a single one in which the rufous 

 basal joints cannot be more or less distinctly traced. [Third Rept., p. 5 r >-56. Fig. 19. 

 Since the above was written, Dr. Horn has given us a revision of the 

 Bruchidce of the United States (Trans. Ain, But, Soc., Vol. IV, 1873), in 

 which he makes fabce a synonym of obsoletm Say, expresses regret that 

 another synonym must be added and states that the obsolctus which I 

 referred to is the tramversus Say (=hibisci Oliv.). This criticism is not 

 deserved, and while the decision of one who has done such excellent work 

 in Coleoptera as Dr. Horn has will be generally accepted as final, yet no 

 one can compare his redescriptiou of obsoktiis with Say's description and 

 not feel that the two apply to different insects. Fabce is usually one-third 

 larger, tawny-gray above with vari-colored antennae, concolorous scutel, 

 emargiuate behind, and rufous legs and abdomen; obsoletus, ou the con- 

 trary, according to Say, is blackish-cinereous, the thorax cinereous each 

 side, with a whitish scutel and with the abdomen and legs not differing in 

 color from the rest of the body. Fa bee breeds in beans ; obsoktus in the seeds 



