350 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 117 



In beginning a study of the North American Tenebrionidae, one's 

 initial impression of the Diaperini is that it forms a taxonomically 

 soimd group. This was my own feeling on the matter when I re- 

 viewed the Ohio species of the family (Triplehorn, 1952). Later, 

 as I began to extend my studies to include the western and southern 

 elements, I soon realized that the group actually was poorly under- 

 stood. Several extraneous components were present, tribal limits 

 were ill-defined, a number of names of vmcertain validity were scat- 

 tered through the literature, several new species needed to be de- 

 scribed, and a certain amount of synonymy was involved among 

 existing species. Moreover, it was evident that despite Champion's 

 excellent work on the Central American fauna, the Nearctic and 

 Neotropical components of the tribe had been compared by him only 

 superficially. 



Thus, the problem, which resulted in this report, was suggested. 

 It was decided to review critically the limits of the group on a world- 

 wide basis, to attempt to establish its taxonomic position, and to re- 

 vise the North American Diaperini in light of om' present knowledge 

 of the world fauna. 



A number of impediments are immediately apparent. Most of the 

 types of the North American species are m European museums and 

 are inaccessible if, indeed, they still exist. Representative collections 

 from all faunal areas would be impossible to assemble, study, and 

 compare in the time allocated. Certain areas of the world, notably 

 South America, are so rich in new species that too much time would 

 be expended simply in describing the new species encountered. 



The scope of the problem has therefore been modified to a revision 

 of the North American components of the tribe, supplemented by re- 

 marks on the Neotropical and Palaearctic species that were available. 

 Virtually no material was seen from other extralimital areas, but the 

 taxonomic treatments of such areas as Australia, West Africa, and 

 the Indo-Malayan region were consulted for information regarding 

 the higher categories. 



HiSTOKY OF THE GROUP. — Prior to 1800, a number of authors had 

 described species now included in the Diaperini. One needs only to 

 study the synonymy involved in a well-known species, such as the 

 European Diaperis boleti (Linnaeus), to appreciate how confusing 

 these insects were to the early taxonomists. This species was origi- 

 nally described in 1758 as Chrysomela Boleti Linnaeus. Earlier it 

 had been mentioned as a Dermestes without a specific name (Udd- 

 mann, 1753). In succeeding years it was placed in Tenebrio (DeGeer, 

 1775) and Coccinella (fasciata) Scopoli (1763).^ 



2 Synonymy based on Seidlitz (1894, p. 515). 



