64 PKOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 82 



at base and apex, and not joining at apex with sutural vitta; the 

 sutural vitta extending about scutelhim. Bod}^ beneath pale, covered 

 with fine pale pubescence, tibiae slightly darker at apex and tarsi 

 dark. Length, 7 mm; width, 4 mm. 



Type locality. — Brownsville, Tex., collected January 17, 1923, col- 

 lector's name not given. 



Remarks. — Mr. Schaeffer has lent me his type specimen, fi female, 

 for examination. Its sides are more parallel than those of the 

 discoidea group, which it most resembles, and the elytral humeri are 

 more pronounced, "Although a smaller species, its smooth, brilliant 

 surface, narrow vittae, and oblong shape suggest Cacoscelis quin- 

 quelineafa Latreille, and it may be a connecting link between this 

 group and the discoidea group. Except for the paler tibiae, it cor- 

 responds with Jacoby's description of D. militarise described from 

 Mexico and Central America, and also with my notes on that species, 

 a cotype of which is in the Bowditch collection in the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology. Until a restudy of the Jacoby type series can 

 be made, the present species may stand as distinct. 



DOUBTFUL SPECIES 



Cistela quinqiievittata Fabeicius, Syst. Ent., p. 118, 1775 (Carolina) ; Spec. 



Ins., vol. 1, p. 148, 1781 ; Man. Ins., vol. 1, p. 86, 1787. 

 Cistela svittata Faericius, Ent. Syst., vol. 1, pt. 2, p. 47, 1792. 

 Disonycha quinquemttata Gemminger and Harold, Catalogue, vol. 12, p. 3496, 



1876 (as synonym of D. caroliniana) . — Horn, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, vol. 



16, p. 315, 1889 (as synonym of D. caroliniana). 



'' Testacea, elytrorum marginibus vittaque media nigris. Habitat 

 in Carolina. Dom. Monson. Corpus testaceum, antennis nigris, 

 serratis. Elj^tra rufescentia, margine omni vittaque in medio uni- 

 uscuiusque elytri nigris. Femora jDOstica valde incrassata, intus 

 canaliculata " (Fabricius, 1775), 



Fabricius (1775) first called this Cistela quinquevittata, but in 

 1792 he gave the name as C. svittata (evidently a typographical error 

 for 5-mttata) and suggested that it might possibly be a chrysomelid. 

 In 1801 he still further abbreviated it to C. vittata (possibly in- 

 fluenced by Olivier, 1789,^*^ who listed an Altica vittata) ^ and at the 

 same time doubtfully synonymized it with Galleruca caroUnia7ia.^'^ 



The identitj^ of Cistela quinquevittata with Disonycha caroliniana 

 has never been properly established. Gemminger and Harold appear 

 to be responsible for referring it to synonymy with D. caroliniana. 

 Whether their use of the name quinquevittata invalidates Say's name 

 quinquevittata applied to a different species is an open question. 



so Olivier, Encyclopedic mgthodique, vol. 4 (Insects, vol. 1), p. 105, 1789 {A. glahrata 

 cited as synonym). 



=1 Fabricius, Systema Eleutheratorum, vol. 1, p. 491, 1801. 



