304 AMERICAN PACHYBRACHYS (cOLEOPTERa) 



shield. This area is usually a little elevated, often quite small, 

 and in many species suboljsolete or completely wanting. In 

 the great bulk of more or less obviously striate species, striae 

 three, four, seven and eight are most likely to be well developed 

 or entire, while five and six are very often broken or confused at 

 and in front of the middle, remaining distinct in their posterior 

 half. In most species there is a sinuation, displacement or 

 confusion of the punctures of the eighth stria just behind the 

 humerus, which I have spoken of in the descriptions as the sub- 

 basal interruption of the eighth stria. A character of some value 

 exists in the punctuation of the marginal interspace, this being 

 virtually free from punctures in numerous species, while in many 

 others it is variablj^ punctate. 



Body beneath. — No characters of any moment have been drawn 

 from the under body, the structure, sculpture and vestiture being 

 sensibly uniform throughout. 



Legs. — The front thighs are distinctly incrassate in all species 

 except the aberrant hepaticus and niicrops, in which, moreover, 

 the tibiae are entirely without apical spurs. In all our other 

 species the middle tibiae are armed with a slender apical spur. 

 The front tibiae are armed with a somewhat thicker and shorter 

 spur except in a very few species — m-nigrum, trinotatus and 

 pidvinatus — in which it appears to be wanting. The hind tibiae 

 are unarmed except in three of the pubescent species — viz., 

 pubescens, haematodes and integratus. The front claws are in 

 many species obviously larger than those of the middle and hind 

 feet. This is especially noticeable in the males, but is in these 

 species also detectable in the females. In many others there is 

 scarcely any difference in the size of the claws, though careful 

 comparison will almost always show the front ones to be a trifle 

 larger. 



Vestiture.- — Some fourteen species have the upper as well as the 

 under surface distinctly pubescent, and these are naturally 

 tabulated together as a group. Of the remaining species, one 

 only — fortis — shows any appreciable signs of pubescence above. 



Color and Markings. — The typical Pachybrachys is of some shade 

 of yellow, with markings of black or brown, which — following 

 Bowditch — I have called the standard spots. These are as 

 follows: On the head, a vertex spot — usually transverse — an 



