1913.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 311 



a single male from Mendoza bearing that date, the latest June 18, 

 while the first date for a pair in copula is March 6. 



*Astroma foliatum Brunner. 



1890. Aslroma foliatum Brunner, Verhandl. K.-K. Zoolog.-botan. Gesell., 

 Wien, XL., p. 121, pi. V, fig. 12c'8 [Arannias, Chile.] 



La Paz, Prov. of Mendoza. Elev. 504 meters. Januaiy 29, 1908; 

 December 15, 1908. One male, two females. 



Alto Pencosa, Prov. of San Luis. Elev. 660 meters. December 

 22, 1908. One nearly adult female. 



The present specimens are referred to this species with some 

 uncertainty, as certain points of difference from the original descrip- 

 tion are evident, although how much weight to allow these differences 

 is a matter of question, as series of the allied A. chloropterum and 

 compadum show considerable variation in size and sculpture. 



Brunner knew" only the female of the species, and his type specimen 

 was considerably smaller than either of the adult females before us, 

 although larger than the immature one. This size difference is, 

 however, about equalled in our series of compactum. 



Brunner used the serrulate or smooth condition of the margins of 

 the ovipositor jaws as one of the major division characters for the 

 species of the genus, placing chloropterum and compactum in the 

 serrulate section and granulosum and foliatum in the other. As a 

 matter of fact, chloropterum is very similar to foliatum in having verj^ 

 weak serrulations on the margins of the dorsal valves, while com- 

 pactum has the serrulations very decided. Aside from size, the 

 description oi foliatum, based on the female sex, agrees with that sex 

 of the present series in all the characters except the number of spines 

 on the margins of the caudal tibiae and in the character of the caudal 

 margin of the pronotum. The number of spines is unimportant, as a 

 count shows they run from nine to twelve on the external margin 

 (Brunner gives thirteen) and from nine to eleven on the internal 

 (Brunner gives eleven). One specimen has nine on each of the 

 margins and another has a difference of two spines on the same 

 margins of the two tibiae. The pronotum is described as "margine 

 antico et postieo in lobos binos foliatos, obtusos productis," and in 

 the present material these margins are strongly bispinose, but hardly 

 developed in foliate lobes. 



18 Given in error as "Fig. 12B" in the text, but the explanation to the plates 

 shows that "B" refers to compactum and "C" to foliatum. 

 21 



