1 66 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, '06 



Bronzed ; first ventral segment rather sparsely finely punctate. 



. Lateral crest of pronotum well developed and strongly angu- 

 late, size larger, 15-17 mm. (California ; British Colum- 

 bia) nimbosa. 



Pronotal crest obsolete, sides not angulate ; size smaller, 9 

 mm. (Georgia ; Louisiana) lecoutei. 



POLYCESTA. 



In the January number of the Canadian Entomologist, p. 

 22, Mr. Schaeffer questions the correctness of my observation 

 (ENT. NEWS, 1905, p. 73) as to the form of the last ventral 

 segment in males of calif ornica, his suspicions being based 

 solely on his study of other species of the genus. In every 

 student's experience instances have occured where it is much 

 easier to believe a published statement the result of an obser- 

 vational error, than to believe that an insect departs in some 

 particular from a type known to prevail in allied forms. Mr. 

 Schaeffer's doubts are perhaps natural enough, but they are 

 in this case ill-founded, and I am able to state after a renewed 

 examination, that the facts are precisely as recorded by me in 

 the article cited. In my own collection and that of Dr. Fen- 

 yes are 8 s and 4 9 s of calif ornica. In none of the males is 

 the apex of the last ventral produced in the form of a broad 

 obtuse parallel sided lobe (as is the case in every one of the 

 5$s of data at hand), the apex of the segment being very 

 slightly subtriangularly prominent, the sides scarcely at all 

 sinuate, the tip narrowly rounded or subangulate. I should 

 have mentioned in my original notes a very obvious sexual 

 character pointed out to me by Mr. Blanchard, which elata and 

 californica possess in common. In these two species the first 

 ventral segment is broadly swollen or tumid at middle through- 

 out its length, the punctuation of this convexity being much 

 finer and sparser than the same segment in the female. In 

 velasco and arhouica Schaef. this segment is not sexually 

 modified. The Yuma male previous referred to by me under 

 velaso, is without much doubt Schaeffer's recently described 

 arizonica. These two forms are certainly very closely allied ; 

 so closely that I somewhat doubt their being more than vari- 

 etal forms of the same species. 



