66 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., '17 



single long spine, followed by a series of shorter ones at least 

 to its base and sometimes to its apex. 



Its chief characters are: the rostrum not going beyond the 

 intermediate coxae and the first joint of the antennae not pro- 

 jecting beyond the head by more than half its length, which 

 distinguishes it from its most similar neighbor, Ercmocoris. 

 It is separated on the other hand from Drymus by the nearly 

 parallel body and the pronotum not so markedly trapezoid, it 

 being strongly so in the latter. 



On recorded distribution, Scolopostethns is essentially palae- 

 arctic, 12 of its 16 species being peculiar to that region, of 

 which ii are found in Europe. Of the remaining species, 2 

 are American or Nearctic ; I Maorian, from New Zealand, and 

 2 Oriental, from China and India. It is unwise, however, to 

 place much reliance on this distribution, since the species are 

 smaller members of an inconspicuous group little collected any- 

 where, except in Europe, where entomologists abound and 

 where collecting has been most intensive. 



Four species are known from the United States Scolo- 

 postetlms thomsoni, also European and described thence; S. 

 atlanticns and 5". diffidcns, described in 1893 by Horvath from 

 the United States ; and S. tropicus, described by Distant in 

 1882 from Guatemala (as Ercmocoris}, and recorded by Van 

 Duzee from "Pacif.," thereby meaning California, etc. ; Gil- 

 lette and Baker, in Hemlptera of Colorado, record it thence. 



No species of the genus was known from America, North 

 or South, until Mr. E. P. Van Duzee recorded 6". affinis from 

 the United States. In 1893 Horvath described 5". atlanticus 

 and .S. diffidens in the Revue d'Entomologie, in his paper on 

 American Scolopostethi, "Les Scolopostethus americains," in 

 which he also noted the occurrence of the European S. thom- 

 soni Reuter, 1875, on both sides of the Atlantic, and that S. 

 affinis was European only, so far as known. Our species are 

 separable by the following key : 



I (?~) Two erect hairs near ocelli: anterior femora with one large 

 spine near middle, with smaller spines running from it to both 

 ends S. thomsoni Reut. 



