880 FAMILY XXIX. — MIRIDJE. 



III. Peritropis Uhler, 1891, 121. 



Oval or subelliptical species having the head porrect, nar- 

 rowed and conical in front of eyes, vertex convex with an im- 

 pressed line on middle, tylus prominent, its base on a line with 

 that of antennas; beak reaching or surpassing fourth ventral; 

 antennas half the length of body, joint 1 stoutest, subequal in 

 length to width of vertex, 2 about as long as head and prono- 

 tum united, 3 and 4 short and slender, united about three- 

 fifths the length of 2 ; pronotum twice as wide at base as long, 

 almost flat, feebly declivent from the base forward, calli 

 rounded, convex, placed near middle of disk ; scutellum large, 

 equilateral ; mesoscutum convex, widely exposed ; elytra entire, 

 thick, opaque, cuneus small, its fracture feeble, embolium 

 broad, flattened, membrane large, uniformly fuscous ; legs 

 short, femora stout, compressed, subf usiform ; tibia? very 

 slender. 



As pointed out by McAtee & Malloch (1924, 71) Peritropis is 

 an aberrant genus in that the tarsi are 2-jointed instead of 3- 

 jointed as in other Mirids. They regard it, therefore, as an 

 "annectant" or connecting link between the families Miridae 

 and Isometopidse. The absence of ocelli and the two closed cells 

 of membrane denote, however, that it is a true Mirid. Two of 

 the three known species occur in the eastern states. 



KEY TO EASTERN' SPECIES OF PERITROPIS. 



a. Hind margin of pronotum sinuate and with three small white tuber- 

 cles; corium fuscous with faint pale dots along the costal margin. 



973. SALD^FORMIS. 



an. Hind margin of pronotum almost straight, without tubercles; corium 

 blackish-brown flecked with numerous gray dots. 974. husseyi. 



973 (1094). Peritropis sald^formis Uhler, 1891, 122. 



Broadly ovate. Dark brown or blackish-fuscous, very sparsely 

 pubescent; head brownish-yellow, sides and vertex marked with fuscous; 

 joints 1 and 2 of antennae blackish-brown, 2 paler at base, 3 and 4 pale 

 brown ; pronotum brownish-yellow, an angular spot each side of calli 

 and a smaller one between them, blackish; side margins with small 

 black dots, hind one with three small white tubercles; elytra blackish- 

 brown, embolium dull brownish-yellow, costal margin with small white 

 dots, cuneus with base and inner margin pale; membrane pale fuscous; 

 legs blackish, base and tips of femora pale; tibiae with two testaceous 

 rings. Structural characters as under genus heading. Length, 2.7 — 3 mm. 



Recorded from Maryland, District of Columbia, northern 

 Illinois and Texas. Occurs on dead branches of trees. 



