BEETLE GENUS ONTHOPHAGUS — HOWDEN, CARTWRIGHT 83 



portion with margin slightly emarginate, truncate, or broadly rounded ; 

 lateral portions scarcely reflexed, obtusely rounded. The disc nearly 

 flat, smooth, and shining, with occasional widely separated coarse or 

 fine pimctures; the carina absent; frons nearly flat, alutaceous, and 

 finely punctate; vertex lacking any trace of the transverse carina, 

 more heavily alutaceous and punctate than frons. Genae depressed, 

 shining, and with a few coarse punctures; delimited from clypeus and 

 frons by faint lines; margins of genae scarcely extending beyond 

 clypeal margins. 



Prouotum margined anteriorly and laterally, sometimes faintly so 

 posteriorly; anterior angles scarcely obtuse, sharply rounded. Disc 

 moderately convex, lacking any type of pronotal protuberance, al- 

 though the anterior median portion may be shghtly swoUen; sm'face 

 covered with large, shallow, setigerous punctm'es usually separated by 

 at least 1 diameter, the punctures near the anterior margin some- 

 times bearing conspicuous tubercles at their anterior edge. Rarely 

 occasional specimens having a few small punctures scattered between 

 the large ones near the posterior midhne; even the smaU punctures, 

 however, often bearing setae; sm'face between punctures finely 

 alutaceous. Elytra with shining, shallowly punctate striae; intervals 

 with rows of smaU tubercles bearing setae at their bases, the smooth 

 surfaces dully alutaceous; at least third, fourth, and fifth intervals 

 with tubercles arranged in two irregular rows. 



Pygidium convex near apex, coarsely, setigerously punctate ; sm'face 

 smooth and shining between punctures except basally where it is 

 often finely alutaceous. Ventral surfaces of thorax and abdomen 

 alutaceous laterally and with scattered, coarse, shallow, setigerous 

 punctures lacking only near the midhne of the metasternum. Ventral 

 abdominal segments, except for first, with a basal row of setigerous 

 punctures often obsolete near the midhne, last segment broadly 

 emarginate to receive the pygidium. Forelegs elongated, the apex 

 of the front femora extending to or nearly to the lateral pronotal 

 margin; foretibia likewise elongated (but not to the extent noted for 

 0. landolti texanus and others), moderately slender, bent inwardly in 

 apical half, quadridentate, the margin between and above the teeth 

 denticulate or serrate; tibial apex with a conical projection above the 

 spine and usually with a pencil of hairs beside the projection. Femora 

 of all the legs ventrally with scattered coarse and fuie punctures, the 

 mesothoracic and metathoracic legs not differing greatly between the 

 sexes. 



Male minors. — Length 3.6 to 4.2 mrn.; width 2.3 to 2.6 mm. 

 Differing from the male majors in the following respects: Head with 

 clypeus at least shghtly reflexed both anteriorly and laterally, the 

 disc more heavily setigerously punctate, the carina obsolete; vertex 



