78 BULLETIN «3, UNITP:D STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



times apparently quite evenly arcuate from apex to base, the latter 

 quite truncate, equal to the length, a seventh to a fourth wider than 

 the apex; apical angles obtuse, not in the least prominent anteriorly, 

 sometimes feebly rounded; basal angles ol)tuse. 



Elytra oval, quite evenly and more or less moderately convex on the 

 dorsum, more strongly rounded laterally; haf^e scarcely emarginate, 

 equal to or slightly Avider than the base of the prothorax; liumeii 

 obtuse, scarcely prominent or rounded ; sides evenly arcuate, apex 

 obtusely rounded; disc finely and diffusely punctate, a serial arrange- 

 ment usually evident, punctures generally of the same size, serial 

 punctures sometimes slightly larger. Otherwise as in o?mssa. 



Male. — Usually quite slender and oblong-oval, frequently more 

 ovate, about three times longer than wide. Eh'tra scarcely wider 

 than the prothorax in the typical form, at other times wider. Both 

 sexes otherwise as in omissa. 



Measure7nents. — Males: Length, 18-15 mm.; width. J:.5-5.2 mm. 

 Females: Lengthy 13-16.5 mm.; width, (3-7 mm. 



Genital charactei's as in omissa (Plate 2, figs. 1. 1), and 10.) 



Habitat. — Southern California (San Diego to Kaweah, Tulare 

 County). 



Number of specimens studied, 1,000. 



Sexitypes in my own collection. 



Type-locality.— ^?in Diego, Cal. 



Salient type-characters. — Much smaller than omissa. Thorax quite 

 quadrate. Elytra at the widest point scarcely Avider than the pro- 

 thorax in the male. 



Diagnostic characters. — Typical specimens are much smaller than 

 omissa, the larger individuals becoming indistinguishable from it. 



Pygmcea is of especial interest from the fact that it has been 

 generally distributed as gentilis. 



The female type before me Avas identified as gentilis by Colonel 

 Casey, and is the species referred to by him in his Coleopterological 

 Notices, VII." Avhere he Avrites " that a very large series of gentilis 

 A\diich I took at San Diego shoAvs quite clearly that this species should 

 be associated Avith quadricollis and vicinus, and is out of place in the 

 present arrangement." 



Gottili.s is a different species altogether and is a race of g'lgantea. • 



Pygmcea is the most abundant species about San Diego. Avhere I 

 haA'e seen it so abundant beneath boards, tin cans, sacks, and coav- 

 chips, that they actually carried these things about over the ground. 

 These remarks ai)ply to the early " seventies," Avhen San Diego con- 

 sisted of scattered houses and the saline flats, covered by ice plants 

 {Mesemhryanthemum crystallinum) formed the greater part of the 



« Aimals N. Y. Acad. Sci., \', Nov., 1800, p. 395. 



uals N. Y. Acad. Sci., V, Nov., 1800, p. 31 



