AMERICAN COLEOPTERA. 295 



the head in front of the antennae, the second has antennae one-third 

 longer than the thorax and rather .slender, while Charistena has curved 

 middle tibiae. The latter genus seems fairly established. Odontota and 

 Anoplitis differ only in the description by the prominence of the head 

 of the former. In studying our species I do not find the character valid, 

 in other words, it is evanescent. Cephalodonta does not occur in our 

 fauna, and a discussion of its value would be premature without speci- 

 mens.* In the Hispidae, as in many other parts of the Coleoptera, 

 classification has been too much diluted by unnecessary genera. 



The following table gives a summary of the species known in our 

 fauna : 



Elytra with ten series of punctures 2. 



Elytra with eight series of punctures fi. 



2. — Elytra not costate, form narrow, parallel colBari*. 



Elytra costate '■'■. 



3. — Elytra with two costae only, first and third, the latter being feeble, apex 



coarsely serrate or even dentate omogera. 



Elytra with three entire costae only 4. 



4. — Elytra black, at most with reddish humeri. 



Body beneath black, thorax red with discal dark space. 



Humeri red, thorax distinctly flattened posteriorly *ca pillar ix. 



Elytra entirely black, thorax convex iiotata. 



Body beneath red, thorax red, elytra black bicolor. 



Elytra reddish yellow, sutural stripe black dorsalis. 



5. — Thorax very much broader at base than apex, elytra somewhat expanded at 



tip rubra. 



Thorax very little wider at base, elytra not expanded at tip...calitbrnica. 

 6. — Elytra gradually wider behind, somewhat expanded at apex, surface variably 



maculate with piceous nervosa. 



Form slender parallel, color yellowish, elytra with narrow sutural strip and 

 side margin blue-black gracilis. 



O. collaris Say. — Slender, parallel, piceous, thorax red, elytra blue. Vertex 

 not sulcate. Thorax transverse, widest at middle, sides arcuate, disc convex with 

 an ante-scutellar depression, surface eribrate. Elytra with ten rows of equal 

 punctures, closely placed without costae. the interval between the first and second 

 pairs of rows a little wider, corresponding with the usual first costa, margin finely 

 serrulate. Length .22-. 24 inch ; 5.5-6 millim. 

 Occurs in Colorado and Illinois. 



O. omogera Cr. — Cuneiform, black, opaque, thorax in pari and humeral 

 spoi red. Vertex sulcate. Thorax widest at base, subangulate at middle, coarsely 

 and deeply punctured, disc flattened posteriorly, the depression limited each side 

 by a slight umbone and posteriorly by a transverse ridge : color red, sides and de- 



* In the Munich Catalogue, p. 3613, the authors go a step further in uniting all 

 these genera with Chalepus (excepting Cephalodonta), while Chapuis considers 

 Chalepus as a mere section of Cephalodonta. The name being much the older 

 should have taken priority over that of which it is considered -a part. 



