172 AMERICAN COLEOPTERA. 



and posterior pale spot: pubescence whitish, very fine, short and indistinct. 

 Head very finely sparsely punctulate; tempora distinct, parallel; antennae as 

 usual in the subgenus. Prothorax a little wider than the head, subquadrate, a 

 little annulate at sides when viewed from above : sides straight and a little conver- 

 gent in front of the angulation, slightly concave posteriorly : surface very finely 

 reticulate, sparsely, finely but distinctly punctate: without basal fovea, the sides 

 lightly transversely impressed posteriorly. Elytra one-half wider than the pro- 

 thorax, rather short, ovate, sides arcuate : striae not impressed, the punctures fine 

 hut distinct, and rather widely spaced ; punctures of intervals very fine. Pro- 

 sternum in front, and metasternum at sides sparingly punctate. Front coxa' dis- 

 tinctly but narrowly separated; middle coxae distinct by fully two-thirds the 

 coxal width. Legs moderate. Length 1.25 mm. 



Hub. — Massachusetts; Pennsylvania; Maryland; Ohio; Illinois; 

 Iowa; Missouri; Colorado (Greeley); Texas (Houston and Browns- 

 ville) ; Florida. 



The sexual characters are those common to the suhgenus, consisting 

 of the longer and denser fringe of hairs at the apex of the front tibiae 

 in the % , and the presence of a small sixth ventral segment in the 9 . 



The Florida specimens constitute apparently a well-defined race. 

 In these the elytra are always (so far as I have seen specimens) 

 blackish brown, each with two pale spots; the eyes are larger and 

 the tempora correspondingly shorter than in northern specimens, or, 

 indeed, than those from any other locality. In the northern and 

 western specimens the prevailing color is pale, the basal and apical 

 shades being frequently wanting; the eyes do not exceed, in their 

 longest diameter, one-half the width of the front, and the tempora 

 are in length about equal to one-third the length of the eye. There 

 are apparently some other faint differences in minor details, but these 

 I have not worked out. One specimen from Florida shows the color 

 of the southern race, but the cephalic characters of the typical form ; 

 it therefore seems unsafe at present to do more than allude to the 

 differences noticed. A very few specimens have been seen in which 

 the elytra! markings are entirely wanting; these closely resemble 

 casta, but may be distinguished, should they occur in the same terri- 

 tory — which is unlikely, by the characters mentioned below. 



JI. casta sp. nov. — Form nearly as in picta ; color entirely yellowish testa- 

 ceous, the outer joints of antennae sometimes a little darker. Very similar to 

 picta in all respect, sexcept as follows: The pubescence is fine and short, but dis- 

 tinctly better developed ; the bead is more strongly and less sparsely punctate; 

 the prothorax is more transverse and shorter relative to the length of the elytra : 

 the punctures of the elytra] intervals are more nearly equal to those of the strisB. 

 (PI. V, fig. 59). Length 1.2 1.5 mm. 



Hub. —California (Redondo ; Pomona; Pasadena). 



