ART. 28 REVISION OF DISONYCHA NORTH OF MEXICO — BLAKE 27 



only one specimen east of Tennessee, and this is a specimen labeled 

 College Park, Md., collected by Duckett (see notes under alternata) ; 

 the accuracy of this label is open to considerable doubt. 



DISONYCHA PLURILIGATA var. PURA (LeConte) 



Plate 2, Figure 10 



Haltica pura Le(_^onte, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 4, p. 80, 1858 



(Colorado River, California; type in LeConte collection, Mus. Comp. Zool.). 

 Disoni/cha pura LeConte, Smithsonian Contr. Knowl., vol. 11, p. 25, 1859. 

 Disonycha capitata Jacoby, Biol. Centr. Amer., vol. 6, pt. 1, p. 316, 1884. [No 



type locality designated, but these localities given: Mexico (North Sonora, 



Tuxtla, Cosanialoapam) ; Guatemala (Zapote Panzos).] 

 Disonycha quinqucvittata var. pura Horn, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. vol. 16, p. 



315, 1880." — ? var. pura Schaeffer, Joiirn. New York Ent. Soc, vol. 27, p. 



334, 1919. — var. pwra Schaeffer, Journ. New York Ent. Soc, vol. 39. p. 



380, 1931. 

 Disonycha quinqueuittata Jacoby, Biol. Centr, Amer., vol. 6, suppl., p. 276. 



1891. 



Deseription. — Usually smaller and paler than pluriligata^ the pro- 

 notum not so heavily marked with spots, sometimes 4, but often only 

 2 anterior spots; the elytra with narrower vittae, and the submar- 

 ginal one frequently very poorly defined ; the body beneath sometimes 

 entirely pale or with slight darkening in middle of metasternum. 

 Length, 6.5 to 7.5 mm ; width, 3.5 to 4 mm. 



Type locality. — Colorado River, Calif. 



Distribution. — Arizona (Globe, Nogales, Oak Creek Canyon, 

 Phoenix, River Camp, Santa Cruz River, White Mountains, Yuma) ; 

 New Mexico (Albuquerque) ; California (Calipatria, Colton, Col- 

 orado River, Imperial County, Needles, Pomona, Riverside, Yuma). 



Food plant. — Salix exlgua (D. K. Duncan). 



Remarks. — The specimen labeled pura in the LeConte collection 

 also bears a gilt label indicating that it was collected in California, 

 and therefore may be considered the type. LeConte separated pura. 

 from pluriligata by its slenderer form and the uniform yellow color 

 of the undersurface. These differences in general hold, but pura 

 is only a pale, attenuated southwestern variety of pluriligata.^ as dis- 

 section reveals. The aedeagus is indistinguishable from that of the 

 larger, more heavily marked Kansas and Texas specimens. 



Jacoby dwelt upon the prominences of the thoracic tubercles in his 

 description of capitata. In reality these callosities are not much 

 more marked than in most of the alternata group, but the lack of 

 coloring on the paler, arid country specimens accentuates these prom- 

 inences. Jacoby states that it ranges as far south as Guatemala. 

 Probably there is a confusion of more than one species in Jacoby's 

 type series of capitata. The specimens from '' North Sonora, Mex- 

 ico " (= Arizona) collected b^' Morrison, some of which now in the 



