NORTH AMERICAN COLEOPTERA. 247 



Ij. cephalica Lee. — Color ferruginous brown or pale castaneous, 

 form a little shorter than typical fmca. Elytral costre moderately 

 well defined, especially the first discal. 



The characters used by Dr. LeConte to define this as a species 

 vanish entirely. He described from one specimen, while there are 

 now sixteen before me. An extreme form might be selected which 

 would readily pass as distinct from typical /«sca. 



These forms occur at Hudson's Bay, Idaho, Colorado, Kansas, 

 Utah, Washington Territory and Northern California. 



It seems hardly necessary to dwell in any detail on those varia- 

 tions in which the sides of the thorax behind the middle are either 

 parallel or slightly convergent to the front, nor on those where the 

 thorax is apparently slightly narrower than the elytra. There is 

 variation in the size of the punctures of the thorax as well as in 

 their closeness, but not as striking as in many other species. 



The elytral costse are usually feebly develo})ed, but specimens are 

 quite frequent in which all the costai are faii-ly indicated. At this 

 ])oint it is well to note that nearly all the variations from the typical 

 form are females and these attain the greatest development as to size. 

 Specimens of this sex are seen from North Carolina and Georgia in 

 whi('h the elytra are comparatively smooth, but not shining, the 

 sutural stria so faint that the sutural costa seems merely an eleva- 

 tion of the suture. 



In fact so variable is/»*'ca and so evanescent the differences that I 

 know of no better task than the study of a large series of this species 

 for those to whom differences mean specific distinction. 



As may be inferred from the preceding remarks fmca is very 

 widely distributed. It occurs in the Hudson's Bay region through 

 Canada to Maine, southward to northern Georgia, thence north- 

 westwardly to Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Washington 

 Territory and the north of California. 



Species 33 — 37. 



The clypeus is here either flat or slightly transversely convex, the 

 margin scarcely or vei-y narrowly reflexed, moderately deeply emar- 

 ginate, the punctuation always very dense. The thorax is more an- 

 gulate at the sides, the margin more or less serrate or crenate in all 

 the species. 



