62 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [March, 



History. — The first species known belonging to the present 

 genus was described by Serville, in 1839, as Opsomala hivittata.* 

 The locality given was "North America," and the specimen de- 

 scribed was from the Latreille Collection, The identity of this 

 insect has been the disturbing factor in all subsequent work in 

 the genus, but we have sufficient knowledge now to show that 

 Latreille received material from Palisot de Beauvois and Bosc, 

 and that the exact locality was probably in the Carolinas. In 

 consequence we feel fully satisfied with our placing of Serville's 

 name. In 1870, Thomas described another species as Opomala 

 [sic] neo-mexicana, from northeastern New Mexico,^ while in 1873 

 Stal erected the genus Mermiria for his new species M. helfragii, 

 described from Texas, ^ which is identical with neo-mexicana. In 

 1877, Scudder described a third species from Georgia, under the 

 name Menniria alacrisy while, in 1890, Bruner described the 

 striking M. texana from El Paso, Texas, and Lerdo, Durango, 

 Mexico,^ and also M. maculipennis from San Antonio and Carrizo 

 Springs, Texas. ^ McNeill, in 1897, in his Revision of the Trux- 

 alinae, published the first study of the genus, and there described 

 M. rostrata, from Mackay, Indian Territory.^'' The latter, we 

 are now able to say, is but an extreme condition of alacris. Mc- 

 Neill made the error of referring material representing three dif- 

 ferent species to hivittata, and his study left us with no better 

 conception of the group than we had before its publication. In 

 1899, Scudder published a short review of the species of the genus, ^^ 

 separating the eastern hygrophilous species as M. intertexta, and 

 also describing M. vigilans, which latter has given authors con- 

 siderable trouble since then, but which we now know to be an 

 individual condition of M. alacris. Scudder united inacuUpennis 

 with hivittata, "as at most only a variety." In 1904, in the Biologia 

 Centrali-Americana, Bruner retained for the species of the genus 

 the nomenclature used by Scudder in 1899.^- In the same work 

 he also erected^^ a new genus and species, Papagoa arizonensis, 



^Hist. Nat. Ins., Orth., p. 589, (1S39). 



s Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1870, p. 77, (1870). 



6 Recens. Orthopt., i, p. 102, (1873). 



' Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., xix, p. 30, (1877). 



8 Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xii, p. 53, pi. I, fig. 11, (1890). 



^ Ibid., p. 54, (1890). 



'"Proc. Davenp. Acad. Nat. Sci., vi, pp. 205, 207, pi. I, fig. 3c, (1897). 



i^Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts and Sci., xxxv, pp. 41 to 44, (1899). 



i^Biol. Cent.-Amer., Orth., ii, pp. 38 to 39, (1904). 



"Ibid., pp. 27, 42, (1904). 



