no.1760. THE EARWIGS OF THE U.H.\ \ll<>\ I/. \!l sl.i \i m /,•/,-. 451 



Named in honor of Dr. L. (). Howard, of the Departmenl of Agri- 

 culture. 



This is the original specimen recorded by Caudell from Guatemala 

 [1907, p. 1.72] as B. nigra. Owing to the distance from Peru, I wasnol 

 surprised to find that (his specimen is distinct. The true />'. nigra 

 is ;i Ctenisolabis with a keeled mesonotum; this specimen, having no 

 sharp keel on the mesonotum, is a Leptisolabis. I have not been 

 able to compare it with the types of Yerho'H"s African species, but a 

 Neotropical and an Ethiopian species of scarce archaic, apterous ear- 

 wigs are not likely to be confused. 



All the Brachylabina have ;i strong family likeness; at first glance, 

 L. howardi looks like B. nigra, but the non-keeled mesonotum dis- 

 tinguishes it at once; the fourth to sixth antenna! segments are 

 shorter and the pronotum longer. It is more difficult to separate 

 from L. punctata, from Java, but it is smaller and slenderer, the 

 sculpture is liner, and the antenna! segments shorter. 



Probably some other species are confused in collections under the 

 name of " Brachylabis nigral 



Family IABIID.lv 



Sul.l.niiily NKSOGAS'l'h'IN . K. 

 Genus NESOGASTER Verhceff. 



1. RUFICEPS Erichson. 



Australia. One nymph (Kcebele). 



SuOlaniily I,ABIIN.K. 



Genus LABIA Leach. 



1. SILVESTRII Borelli. 



Paraguay. Puerto Bertoni. (Cat. No. 8303.) 



This specimen, a female, is a syntype of Borelli, sent from Turin to 

 be compared with the type of L. paraguay( nsis Caudell. It approaches 

 that species in the form of the pronotum and antennas, but the seg- 

 ments of the latter are rather strongly pyriform than conical; the 

 abdomen also is parallel and hot dilated. The forceps and pygidium 

 arc also somewhat different in both sexes. 



2. UNIDENTATA Palisot de Beauvois. 



This species was originally described by Palisot de Beauvois from 

 Santo Domingo; Bolivar has since applied the name to specimens 

 from Cuba. Labia burgessi Scudder, from Texas, appears to me to 

 be the same thing, with abbreviated wings. Experience has shown 

 over and over again that the abbreviation of the wings is a \ny 

 common condition among earwigs, and is absolutely valueless as a 

 specific character, although it somewhat alters the superficial appear- 

 ance of the specimens. Now, I consider that the various specimens 

 examined by me, from Cuba, Florida, Texas, Santo Domingo, 

 Georgia, and St. Vincent, arc all one and the same species, offering 

 certain variation within determined limits, as is frequently the case 



