112 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Platymetopius frontalis n. sp. 



Smaller and shorter than P. acuUis. Blackish fuscous, sparingly 

 irrorate with pale ; face pale yellow. Length about 4 m.m. 



Vertex shorter than in acutus, one-quarter longer than broad between 

 the eyes, with a longitudinal depression, apex obtuse. Cheeks broader, 

 and the clypeus shorter and broader than in acutus, the sides of the latter 

 almost rectilinear. Head, scutellum and abdomen, closely punctured. 

 Pronotum smooth, obscurely transversely wrinkled. Last ventral seg- 

 ment of the male rather deeply concave, valve large and rounded ; plates 

 triangular, on the impressed suture about as long as the valve, apex sub- 

 acute, margins sparsely ciliate ; pygofers elongated, surpassing the plates. 

 Last ventral segment of the female broad, slightly keeled and compressed 

 apically, the hind edge feebly notched on the middle, pygofers short and 

 broad, scarcely exceeded by the ovipositor. 



Colour fuscous, or almost black ; posterior disc of the vertex, prono- 

 tum, scutellum, and all beneath, minutely but sparingly irrorate with pale ; 

 vertex and venter of the male almost immaculate. Apex of the vertex 

 whitish, with some irregular fuscous lineations on either side of the central 

 line ; face yellow, cheeks infuscated exteriorly, base of the front with but 

 faint indications of the concentric lines characteristic of our other species. 

 Pronotum, with five whitish longitudinal lines, faintly indicated. Nervures 

 of the elytra bordered with interrupted pale lines that sometimes form re- 

 ticulations on some of the areoles ; costal area outwardly whitish hyaline, 

 crossed by about eight oblique blackish veinlets ; apical areoles, except- 

 ing on their base fuscous, the extreme edge pale. Elytra normally with 

 about fifteen round whitish dots placed on the ends of the areoles, but 

 more or less of the basal are frequently wanting. Wings sordid hyaline, 

 nervures fuscous. Tibise spotted with pale ; tarsi pale, the joints tipped 

 with black. 



Described from two ^ and five $ examples. Buffalo, N. Y., June 

 and September; Ames, Iowa, (H. Osborn). 



I have swept this species from low bushes and weeds with P. acutus. 

 from which it may readily be distinguished by -its smaller size and blackish 

 colour. P. acutus has the sides of its clypeus concave, and the apex of 

 the valve of the S obtusely pointed. P. vwdestus Stael is unknown to me, 

 as is also P. magdalensis Prov., but these are larger pale species. 



