158 AMERICAN COLEOrTERA. 



more strongly denticulate than usual; surface quite closely punctate, the punc- 

 tures larger and subrugose at sides, finer along the median line, distant as a rule 

 by less than their own diameters: antebasal fovea distinct but not deep. Elytra 

 oblong, sides parallel and broadly arcuate, apex obtusely rounded ; stria' scarcely 

 impressed, punctures moderate, finer apically as usual. Presternum rather 

 coarsely, mesosternum equally coarsely but more closely, metasternum less 

 coarsely and rather sparsely punctate : abdomen finely, very sparsely punctate, 

 the first segment more distinctly so. Metasternum longer than the first ventral 

 segment; middle coxae separated by fully one-half the coxa] width. Legs rather 

 slender. 



Male. — Front and middle tibia* bent at tip and mucronate within, the hind 

 tibia? very feebly but visibly bent, the mucro apparently present but indistinct; 

 fifth ventral scarcely longer than the fourth, and with a distinct transverse 

 apical impression occupying about three-fourths the length of the segment. 



Female. — Tibiae simple: fifth ventral longer and with a moderately large but 

 somewhat vague discal impression. 



Length 2 mm. 



Mab. — California — San Jose (type in LeConte collection), Santa 

 Cruz Mts. and Los Gatos. 



I have seen but three examples aside from the LeConte type, 

 all — as will he seen from the above localities — coming from a limited 

 area in the middle coast region of California. This species has been 

 set down in late lists as a synonyn of serrata; this course, however, 

 is entirely in error, as the two species are perfectly distinct. They 

 may at once be separated by the relatively long tempora in priono- 

 dera, these being fully one-fourth the length of the eye, while in 

 serrata they are excessively short. Prionodera, moreover, is less 

 robust, the head is nearly as wide as the prothorax, the prothorax is 

 less transverse, less closely punctate, and more strongly denticulate 

 at sides. In st rrata the fifth ventral of the female is scarcely at all 

 impressed, the hind tibiae are not in the least modified at tip in the 

 male, and the front and middle tibiae in the same sex are much less 

 evidently bent at tip than in prionodera. 



V. «*a,roIiii«t sp. nov. — Oblong-ovate, robust, moderately convex, rufotesta- 

 ceous ; pubescence fulvo-cinereous, recumbent. Head numerously punctate; 

 eyes moderately prominent: tempora much shorter than in prionodera, but not 

 quite so short as in serrata, Antenna' moderate, eighth joint subglobular, ninth 

 and tenth suhquadrate. Prothorax large, transverse, nearly as wide as the elytra 

 at the humeri, widest a little before the middle, sides strongly rounded, base a 

 little narrower than the apex; margin rather strongly denticulate; surface quite 

 closely uniformly punctate throughout, the punctures separated by less than 

 their own diameters; basal fovea round and moderately deep, but not large. 

 Elytra oblong, sides nearly parallel but broadly rounded ; stria* very faintly im- 

 pressed, punctures moderate, finer apically. Presternum coarsely, rather closely 

 punctate; metasternum less coarsely, nearly uniformly punctate throughout, the 



