8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.80 



COCCINELLA NOVEMNOTATA Herbst subspecies FRANCISCANA Mulsant 



Coccinella franciscana Mulsant, 1853, p. 19. 

 Coccinella calif ornica Casey (partim), 1899, p. 89; 1908, p. 404. 

 Coccinella novemnotata Herbst var. franciscana Mulsant, Leng, 1903, p. 198; 

 1920, p. 216.— Johnson, 1910, p. 59. 



This race differs from other subspecies of novemnotata Herbst by 

 the absence of all or most of the elytral spots, by the bright red of the 

 elytra, and by the polished and sliiny surface of the elytra. The 

 individuals from southern California are usually spotless; those from 

 San Joaquin Valley usually have a few of the spots characteristic for 

 other subspecies of novemnotata Herbst. The Coccinella living in 

 San Joaquin Valley may thus be considered intermediate between 

 the subspecies oregona Casey and franciscana Mulsant. Casey 

 (loc. cit.) considered franciscana Mulsant as a synonym for Coccinella 

 californica Mannerheim. This view is unfounded. Even without 

 consideration of the structure of the genitalia, the presence of the 

 white margin of the pronotum in franciscana Mulsant is evidence 

 against such a supposition. 



Geographic distribution. — Localities as follows: 



California: Klamath Springs, Carrville, Oroville, Yuba County, Lake Tahoe, 

 Truckee, Placerville, Mokelumne Hill, Valley Springs, Tuolumne County, 

 Patterson, Fresno, Coalinga, Huntington Lake (7,000 feet). Independence, 

 Visalia, Lemoncove, Lindsay, Bakersfield, San Fernando, Mint Canyon, 

 Mount Lowe, Mount Wilson, Pasadena, Los Angeles, Whittier, Arcadia, 

 Monrovia, Fish Canyon, Riverside, Balboa, San Diego, Coronado, Poway, 

 Imperial County. 



Utah: St. George. 



Arizona: Yuma. 



New Mexico: Espanola. 



Remarks. — The distribution oi franciscana Mulsant exhibits an inter- 

 esting feature. This form is frequent in regions where Coccinella 

 californica Mannerheim is absent, and is lacking or occurs only seldom 

 in places where C. californica is frequent. Practically the only region 

 where the distribution of the two species overlaps is the vicinity 

 of Los Angeles. In general, californica occupies the region west of the 

 Coast Range, while franciscana lives east of the Coast Range. Such a 

 relationship seems typical for close species which are not far from being 

 only subspecies of the same species. This is, however, hardly true 

 in respect of franciscana and californica. Indeed, californica seems 

 to be related closely to transversoguttata Falderman and not to novem- 

 notata Herbst. On the other hand, franciscana is beyond doubt a 

 subspecies of novemnotata. Perhaps the explanation of this peculi- 

 arity of distribution of the two species lies in some of their ecological 

 peculiarities. 



