136 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



A FEW NEW COLEOPTERA OF THE GENUS BITOMA, 

 WITH NOTES ON OTHER COLYDIID^. 



By CHAS. SCHAEFFER. 



This paper is based largely on the material in the genus 

 Bitoma contained in the Hubbard & Schwarz collection of 

 Coleoptera in the U. S. National Museum. Through the kind 

 ness of Mr. Schwarz I have been enabled to study this material, 

 and, as will be seen in the following pages, several of the 

 species have proved to be new. Among the material sent me 

 by Mr. Schwarz are two more species which are apparently 

 new, but as I was unable to find a good structural character to 

 separate them from their nearest allies, and as they were repre 

 sented by single specimens only, I leave these for the future, 

 when more material will be available. 



The sculpture of the metasternum of most of our species of 

 Bitoma may be called granulose. In some species the granules 

 are distinct, but slightly elongated ; in others they are longitu 

 dinally confluent, giving the surface a strigose appearance which 

 is especially strongly pronounced in ornata, quadriguttata and 

 pinicola, but in vittata more feebly and the granules hardly 

 confluent. In discolor the sculpture of the metasternum is 

 feeble, but slightly more distinct than in pro so pis and suffusa. 



The sculpture of the elytral intervals in pale specimens looks 

 at first entirely different than in dark specimens of the same 

 species ; this is rather misleading, especially as in certain species 

 the sculpture in dark specimens is more difficult to make out 

 clearly than in pale specimens. 



TABLE OF THE SPECIES OF BITOMA. 



1. Antennae with ninth joint as wide as the eighth 2 



Antennae with ninth joint wider than the eighth 9 



2. Semicylindrical, thorax longer than wide, narrowing from apex to 



base, elytra strongly carinate carinata LeConte. 



Depressed, thorax as wide or wider than long 3 



3. Thorax much narrower at base than at apex; elytral intervals on 



each side with two rows of tubercles, these two rows separated by 



a nearly smooth median line; color piceous, each elytron with a 



longitudinal reddish vitta not extending quite to apex, .vittata, n. sp. 



Thorax not or very feebly narrower at base than at apex 4 



4. Metasternum nearly smooth 7 



Metasternum longitudinally strigose 5 



Metasternum finely granulate, the granules at base slightly longitu 

 dinally confluent; color piceous, the humeri sometimes slightly 

 paler, thorax strongly transverse quadricollis Horn. 





