122 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. lu 



in dorsal half rather flattened and finely alutaccous, the alutaceous 

 sculpture becoming less evident towards the apex which is coarsely, 

 setigerously punctate and quite convex slightly below the median 

 line; not quite as elongate as in the male. Ventrally the female is 

 similar to the male except that the last abdominal segment is not 

 emarginate and the legs are slightly stockier than in the male. The 

 forefemur and tibia considerably shortened compared to the male 

 major, but little shorter than in the male minor; the foretibiae stoclder 

 than in either the male major or minor, with the tibial spines ratlier 

 slender and curved inwardly on outer half. 



Type. — Canadian National Collection 2870. 



Type locality. — Royal Palm Park, Fla. 



Specimens examined. — 861. 



Distribution. — (See fig. 11, p. 119.) 



Florida: Capron, Collier Co., Crescent Beach, Donnelton, Dunedin, Enterprise, 

 Estero, Gainesville, Highlands Hammock State Pk., Homestead, Kissimmee 

 River, La Belle, Lake Alfred, Lakeland, Lake Merion, Lake Okeechobee, Levy Co.. 

 Lutz, Marineland, Miami, Miami Beach, Ocala, Osceola Co., Orange Co., Paradise 

 Key, Royal Palm Park, Starke, Stemper, Tampa, south Carolina: Beaufort, 

 Charleston, Florence, Hartsville, Yauhannah. 



Remarks. — 0. blatchleyi has been treated as a subspecies not because 

 it is lacking in distinguishing characteristics, but because all the 

 characteristics in specimens from north of peninsular Florida appear 

 to blend with the true hecate. It is interesting that the characters 

 separating 0. blatchleyi from 0. hecate, the widely spaced pronotal tu- 

 bercles, the small elytral tubercles, the brown spots on the elytra, and 

 the broad pronotal horn, all seem to intergrade at approximately the 

 same time and in the same areas. Some investigators have stated that 

 subspecies are often based on only one character and that, if based on 

 more than one, these characters do not show simultaneous intergrada- 

 tion. Here at least is one subspecies that seems to disprove this point. 

 In peninsular Florida south of Gainesville, the populations of blatchleyi 

 are uniform and easily distinguishable from the more northern hecate. 

 Intergradation begins to occur in a curving line between DeFuniak 

 Springs, Fla., and coastal South Carolina, the areas of intergradation 

 being more diffuse along the coast and more distinct inland. The 

 brown elytral spots are present in some of the specimens taken near 

 Clarksville, Fla., but are entirely absent in any specimens the writers 

 have seen from Mobile, Ala. Likewise, specimens from Savannah, 

 Ga., though having rather smaU pronotal tubercles, usually lack the 

 brown spots. Hundreds of specimens of hecate have been examined, 

 but only relatively rarely have tlie brown spots been noted in more 

 northern specimens exhibiting the other characters of the true hecate. 



