NORTH AMERICAN COLEOPTERA. 119 



PliECTRODES Horn. 



f . palpalis Horn. Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. viii, p. 146. 



The specimens hitherto collected of Plectrodes have consisted of males 

 alone and the descriptions of the three species apply to that sex alone. 

 A short time since Mr. Behrens, of San Francisco, loaned me a female of 

 the above species which differs from the male by some characters worthy 

 of note. 



The form and vestiture do not diifer in the sexes, and the tibiae have 

 similar teeth on the front pair while the middle and posterior are mu- 

 cronate in a similar manner. The antennal club is but two-thirds in the 

 female the length in the male. The last joint of the maxillary palpi is 

 about half the length in the female, more oval and more acute at tip, the 

 impression quite shallow and not deeper than observed in pvbescens. In 

 the male the anterior claw of each tarsus is armed with a moderately 

 long tooth near the base and very nearly of equal length on all three 

 tarsi ; the posterior claw is also toothed but that of the front tarsus has 

 a very feeble tooth, a larger one on the middle tarsus while on the pos- 

 terior tarsi the claws are nearly equally toothed. In the female the an- 

 terior claws are toothed as in the male, the posterior claws are also toothed, 

 but less strongly than the anterior, and on all three tarsi very nearly 



equally. 



FHYTALiUS Erichs. 



At the time of the publication of the " Classification" several species 

 of this genus were known to us, but as none of them were described the 

 name was accidentally omitted. Phytalus should be associated with 

 Lachnosterna and Listrochelus, from both of which it differs in having 

 the claws cleft at tip. 



In examining the species before me I find the claws differing, two of 

 them having the claws so cleft that the upper portion is more slender 

 and shorter than the lower portion, while in the others the reverse is the 

 case. Two of the Mexican species described by Blanchard are known to 

 me by specimens kindly sent me by Mr. Salle, and are mentioned in my 

 table for the sake of comparison. The following are the species known 

 to me in nature : 



Claws unequally cleft, the upper portion more slender and shorter than the 



lower 2. 



Claws more equally cleft, the upper portion nearly as stout and always longer 



than the lower 3. 



2. --Thorax very regularly closely and rather coarsely punctate. Outer spur of 

 hind tibise of % short, fixed. Form robust. Clypeus feebly emarginate. 



robustus n. sp. 



