Proceedings of 

 the United States 

 JNational Museum ^'^^^^ 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION . WASHINGTON, D.C. 



Volume 117 1966 Number 3521 



GENUS LEXIPHANES 



OF AMERICA NORTH OF MEXICO 



(COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE) ' 



By Edward U. Balsbaugh, Jr. 



Introduction 



The taxonomic history of this group began with the generic estab- 

 lishment of Monachus Chevrolat (1837) in Dejean's "Catalogue." 

 Chevrolat created the genus by separating species from large genera 

 such as Clytra Laicharting and Cryptocephalus Geoffroy. He did not 

 describe the genus, but it did possess nomenclatorial vahdity because 

 of the inclusion of vaUd specific names. Although Suffrian (1852) 

 published the first generic description, he was erroneously cited as 

 generic author by Goraminger and von Harold (1874), Clavareau 

 (1913), and Leng (1920). 



Gistel (1848) proposed the current valid name Lexiphanes after he 

 saw that Monachus Chevrolat was preoccupied: Monachus Fleming, 

 1822 and Monachus Kaup, 1829. Lexiphanes did not obtain recog- 

 nition until Blackwelder (1946) published his neotropical catalog. 



1 Modified from a master's thesis submitted to Pennsylvania State University 

 and conipleted in the employ of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. 



2 Department of Zoology-Entomology, Auburn University, Auburn, Ala. 



655 



