212 



cupreous lustre of the latter ; is a more slender insect ; the 

 head is narrower ; the thorax not so wide and more contracted 

 behind the middle, is destitute of punctures on the basal edge, 

 and the basal foveas are smaller ; the coleoptra are more pro- 

 longed behind, and not so obtusely rounded ; the external strise 

 near the tip are not so much angulated, and there is no vestige 

 of the obsolete impressed fovea which is found adjacent to these 

 angulated strise in my species ; the striae are not so deeply im- 

 pressed, and the little punctures in them want the decidedly 

 shining, brassy color of B. americana; tlie large, impressed 

 foveas are similarly placed, but are smaller and not so deep.^ 



Upon examination and careful comparison of your typical 

 Notiophili, the following results Avere obtained : — 



1. Your^o. 422 is the true porrectus of Say. Herbst's de- 

 scription of ceiieus applies also well enough to it ; but his figure 

 (bad enough, doubtless, and probably incorrect) is widely dif- 

 ferent. 



2. Your specimen from Lake Superior is the semistnatus of 

 Say, agreeing exactly in size, form, color, and sculpture with 

 my specimen from Pennsylvania. Your 421 is also identical 

 witli setnlstriatus, differing from my typical one in being rather 

 smaller. 



3. Your 423 and the specimen ticketed novemstriatus, consti- 

 tute but one species ; not the semistnatus of Say, but the species 

 which I long ago named quaclrifoveatus, and whicli by that 

 name I have distributed among my correspondents in Europe. 

 It is the analogue of the European Mguttatus, from which, how- 

 ever, it differs in many obvious characters. You will see that it 

 has near the tip of each elytron an obh^ng fovea, wliich, taken 

 with the ordinary one before the middle of each elytron, sug- 

 gested the descriptive name quadrifoveatus. I regret that sucli 



1 Having examined more tluiii a dozen specimens of B. qmulricolUs, I may say that 

 tlio diirerences mentioned in tlio above letter are not specific, but merely individnal. 

 At the time the comparison was made by Dr. Harris, but one Lake Superior specimen 

 of quadricolUs was known; since then it has been found not unfrequently in Northern 

 Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. [.T. L. L.] 



