696 Coleopterological Notices, VI. 



and more decumbent. The description of LeConte is misleading 

 in regard especiall}' to the form of the prothorax, which does not 

 differ from his difficilis to an}' noticeable degree. 



8. A. piuguescens n. sp, — Rather stout, convex, shining, dark piceous, 

 the under side black; elyti'a pale brownish-flavate, very feeblj' and indefinitely 

 clouded with piceous in an oblique spot at the middle of each ; legs and an- 

 tennae pale; pubescence coarse, semi-erect, cinereous, not dense but consi)ic- 

 uous. Head quadrate, as long as wide, feebly convex, coarsely, deeply, 

 moderately closely punctate, with an almost entire median impunctate line; 

 eyes large, prominent, the tempora straight and parallel, with the flanks flat- 

 tened behind the ej'es, about two-thirds as long as the latter; base broadly 

 arcuate, not at all impressed, the basal angles very distinct and rather narrowly 

 rounded; antenna; somewhat slender, feebly incrassate, not quite as long as the 

 head and prothorax, the tenth joint full} as long as wide. Prothorax large, 

 convex, fully as wide as the head, a little wider than long, narrowly rounded 

 at the sides anteriorly, the sides obli(iue and feebly arcuate thence to basal 

 fourth or fifth, then parallel to the base: collar broad, strongly developed; 

 punctures deep, rather coarse and close; basal margin narrow but distinct. 

 Elytra three-fourths longer than wide, twice as wide as the prothorax, the sides 

 parallel and feebl}' arcuate, a little more convergent behind the middle, the 

 apex some\\ hat broadly rounded ; humeri widely and transversely exjiosed at 

 base; omoplates very feeble; punctures rather coarse, separated by scarcely 

 more than their own widths. Abdomen polished, finely but not densely punc- 

 tate, the legs long and rather stout. Length 3.2 mm.; width l.lo mm. 



California (San Francisco to Los Angeles). 



The male has the posterior tibife broadly, feebly swollen within 

 in basal two-thirds, the fifth ventral unmodified, rounded behind, 

 the genital segment arcuate at tip in the middle and thence sinuate 

 for a short distance to each lateral angle. The copulaiory sheath 

 is parallel-sided, as in the preceding species, but the tip is mucli 

 more abruptly and briefly ogival, the apex of the ogive pro- 

 duced in a broader, obtusely rounded process, the flattened 

 superior surface at apex only very slightly and narrowly im- 

 pressed along the obliquely rounding sides of the ogive. Six 

 specimens. 



The four preceding species are mutually closely allied, and evi- 

 dentl}' descended from a common stock in comparatively recent 

 times. Whether the}' should be termed species or geographical 

 varieties is, at the present time, a matter of opinion ; they all 

 differ b}' well marked peculiarities of structural detail, and, in the 

 opinion of the writer, can be considered geographical varieties 

 onl}' in the sense that all the species of a genus are geograpiiical 



