40 FAMILY I. — SCUTELLERID^E. 



and widely scattered; sixth ventral of male with hind margin 

 broadly emarginate or concave. 3. irroratus. 



aa. Punctures green, those on sides of under surface numerous and 

 somewhat crowded ; sixth ventral of male with hind margin en- 

 tire and broadly rounded. 4. chrysorrhoeus. 



3 (9). Diolcus irroratus (Fabricius), 1775, 699. 



Broadly oval, convex. Above dull yellow, thickly and irregularly 

 marked with brownish-red punctures, the smooth spaces showing as yel- 

 low spots on occiput and forming a large triangular spot each side on 

 front half of pronotum and numerous small scattered ones on scutellum; 

 connexivum with alternating punctured spots of dull red and smooth 

 ones of yellow; beneath yellow with widely scattered round purple dots, 

 each enclosing a small puncture; antennae and legs yellow, the latter 

 marked with small red dots. Head longer and more pointed than in 

 chrysorrhoeus. Pronotum with lateral angles obtusely rounded, the 

 adjacent sides behind them feebly sinuate; disk finely, irregularly, some- 

 what sparsely punctate and with an ill-defined triangular impression 

 each side. Scutellum broadly oval, covering only the apical third of 

 elytral costal border. Median plate of genital segment of female much 

 broader than long. Other characters as in generic description. Length, 

 8 — 9 mm.; width, 6 — 6.5 mm. 



Dunedin, Caxambus, Chokoloskee, Royal Palm Park, Cape 

 Sable and Key West, Fla., Dec. 17 — April 5. Recorded also from 

 Punta Gorda, Biscayne Bay and Fernandino. This prettily 

 marked Scutellerid is a West Indian species, known in the 

 United States only from Florida, where it occurs almost ex- 

 clusively on the foliage of the black mangrove, Rhizophorci mangle 

 L., on the keys and along the edges of the tidewater lagoons. 



4 (10). Diolcus chrysorrhceus (Fabricius), 1803, 138. 



Form of irroratus. Above dull reddish-yellow, marked with numer- 

 ous large metallic green punctures, and usually irregular fuscous spots, 

 the latter, when present, forming several large blotches on basal half 

 of pronotum, covering the apical third or more of scutellum and forming 

 a small round submarginal spot each side near its middle; beneath dull 

 yellow with numerous coarse green punctures along the sides; antennae 

 and legs yellow, the latter with scattered reddish-brown dots. Structural 

 characters much as in irroratus, the head shorter, broader, with apex 

 less pointed than there. Median genital plate of female triangular, 

 longer than broad. Length 8 — 9 mm. ; width 6 — 7 mm. 



Sanford, Dunedin, Royal Palm Park and Cape Sable, Fla., 

 Dec. 8 — June 6. Recorded also from Jacksonville, St. Augustine, 

 Green Springs and Indian River District, Fla. Ranges from 

 South Carolina and southern Florida to Texas. Hibernates in 

 bunches of Spanish moss and occurs especially on foliage of 



