AMERICAN COLEOPTERA. 151 



Description of a new PSETJDOMORPHA from California, with notes on the 



Pseudomorphidae. 



BY GEO. H. HORN, M. D. 



[Communicated June lOtli, 18(>7.] 



The speciea described in the present paper was found by myself in 

 Owen's Valley, California, on the flowers of the Lupin (Astragalus). 

 It was subsequently collected by Dr. Cronkhite, Ass't. Surg. U. S. A., 

 in the same region, and this, with other interesting species, sent me 

 for examination. These insects are not easy to obtain, as they ai'e pro- 

 vokingly agile. The same fact has been noticed in our eastern species 

 by Dr. Zimmerman, of Columbia, S. C, who has occasionally seen a 

 few specimens without being able to catch them. 



PSEUDOMOEPHA, Kirby. 

 P. Cronkhitei, elongato-ovalis, modice depressa, brunneo-castanea, nitida, 

 vix j)unctata, thorace latitudine duplo longiore, lateribus rotundatis, margiua- 

 tis et margine parce fimbriolata, angulis posticis obtusis, elytris subparallelis, 

 margine parce fimbriata; subtus ferruginea. Long .35. 



This species may be readily known by its smoothness, being almost 

 entirely free from punctures, except near the lateral margin of the 

 thorax, where but few exist. The thorax is scarcely broader 'than the 

 elytra, slightly emarginate in front, truncate behind, sides ciliate with 

 short hairs, margin broader anteriorly. Elytra impunctured, subpar- 

 allel, slightly ciliate. Beneath ferruginous. The third, fourth and 

 fifth abdominal segments have each a transverse pilose spot near the 

 middle, which may indicate sexual difi'erences. The specimens in my 

 collection, three in number, are all alike and exhibit among themselves 

 no ditt'erences of a sexual nature. 



I dedicate the species with great pleasure to Dr. Cronkhite, whose 

 liberality has aided me greatly in the study of the Coleoptera of Cali- 

 fornia and Oregon. The discovery of a species of this genus in Cali- 

 fornia is remarkable and adds another fact to the already inexplicable 

 law of distribution of genera in Australia, South America and Cali- 

 fornia. 



There is no group among the Carabid;ie, as at present recognized, 

 presenting so many anomalies as that to which this insect belongs ; 



