A. B. WOLCOTT 71 



its allies. Quadriguttatus, as shown, has the elytral maculations 

 of a different type from its supposed allies: in nigripes, and its 

 varieties, nifiventris and duhius, as well as in nigrifrons and al- 

 most imperceptibly in gerhardi, the basal maculations trend ob- 

 liquely forward from near the lateral margins of the elytra to 

 near the middle of each elytron, they are also more remote from 

 base of elytra being at or but slightly before the middle of their 

 length, while in quadriguttatus the basal maculations are confined 

 entirely within the limits of the basal third of the elytra, and the 

 trend of these is obliquely l)ackward from near the side margin 

 to near the suture; the subapical spots are somewhat triangular 

 in form. 



The writer has examined many hundred specimens of nigripes 

 and allied forms without finding anything that could be con- 

 sidered as being Olivier's species. Special appeals to quite a few 

 of our most enthusiastic and diligent collectors have utterly 

 failed to bring to light this coveted species. 



It is inexplicable that this species, so distinctively colored and 

 strikingly marked, should have ])een allowed for such a long 

 period of time to stand unchallenged as a member of our fauna, 

 and especially so in view of the fact that Dr. John L. Leconte 

 as long ago as 1849^ placed this species under the caption "Species 

 dubiae, an hujus patriae", both nigripes and nigrifrons having 

 been rather fully described in the preceding pages. Nearly all 

 subsequent writers seem to have l)een reluctant to take this 

 view and as a result imposed the name upon an entirely distinct 

 species. The occurrence of E. quadriguttatus within our faunal 

 limits is so extremely doul)tful that, in the writer's opinion, it 

 would be better removed from our lists. 



Enoclerus nigripes Say 



Clenit; niyripes Say, Journ. Aoad. Nat. Sci. Phila., ni, p. 191, 1823. 

 Clerus incertus Lee, Smiths. Miso. Coll., vi, p. 55, 1863. 

 Clej-us qnadrlguttatm Auctt., nee ()livi(>r, Loronlo, Schenklin<i. 



This is the species that has been wrongly identified by nearly 

 all writ(M-s as E. quadrigattatus Olivier. It is, however, very 

 distinct from that species, as it also is from nigrifrons Say. In 

 the last mentioned species the abdomen is always ])lack, i-ed in 

 nigripes. E. nigrifrons is a more slender species in which llie 

 upper surface is more finely sculptured and decidedly shining 



> Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y., v, p. 25 (p. 17 of separates). 



TRANS. AM. ENT. SOC, Xt.VllI. 



