42 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. 64 



PANISCUS TEXANUS Ashmead. 



Paniscus texanus Ashmead, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 12, 1890, p. 425. 



The description of this species consists of a statement of a few 

 characters by which it is said to differ from geminatus (Say) , It is 

 apparent that Ashmead's conception of geminatus was of a large 

 insect, for he says of texanus that it is much smaller. As a matter 

 of fact, it is slightly larger than the insect described by Say. In 

 comparing the first and second flagellar joints Ashmead apparently 

 looked at the upper or inner side in texanus and at the outer side 

 in '^geminatus," for, as a matter of fact, there is very little if any 

 difference in the relative length of these two joints in the two species. 

 The strength of the notauli is somewhat variable within a species, as 

 are also the position of the nervulus in relation to the basal vein 

 and the length of the ramulus. 



Unfortunately the unique type of texa,nus lacks the abdomen and 

 portions of many of the appendages. What is left has a somewhat 

 different aspect from geminatus: the thorax is stouter, being nearly 

 as high as long, with the dorsal sclerites, especially mesoscutum and 

 scutellum relatively broader than in geminatus. This, together with 

 the abdominal characters assigned to it by Ashmead and used in the 

 above key should serve to distinguish it if it is actually specifically 

 distinct. Certainly among the many specimens available for study 

 there is none exactly like it in thoracic structure. 



NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF PANISCUS NOT INCLUDED IN THE 



ABOVE KEY. 



PANISCUS APPENDICULATUS Provancher. 



Paniscus appendiculatus Provancher, Nat. Can., vol. 6, 1874, p. 105. 



Provancher himself reduced this to synonymy with geminatus (Say) ^ 

 but its yeUow vertex excludes it from that species as here restricted. 

 I am unable to recognize it definitely. It is probably either spinipcs 

 Cushman or pallens Cushman, but the characters by which those 

 species are distinguished are not mentioned by Provancher. 



NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES ERRONEOUSLY REFERRED TO PANISCUS. 



The following species have been referred to Paniscus erroneously. 



(PANISCUS) ALEXETER ALBOTARSATUS (Provancher). 



This species has stood in Paniscus until very recently, when it was 

 transferred by the present writer to Alexeter. 



In his last mention of this species Provancher describes it as hav- 

 ing the ocelli contiguous with each other, but A. B. Gahan, who has 

 examined the type, notes that they are their own diameter from the 

 eyes, which would indicate that they are small and not contiguous. 

 This is the case with a specimen compared by Mr. Gahan with the 



