LEXIPHANES NORTH OF MEXICO — BALSBAUGH 663 



1500 ft., Apr. 4. Veracruz: Cosamaloapd,n, July 20; Cotaxtia, Fob. 10; 

 Santa Lucrecia; "Tephambres"; Veracruz, July. Unknown localities: 

 Real de Arriba, Temescaltepec, July 19. 



UNITED STATES: Arizona: cochise co.: Palmerlee. gila co.: Globe; 

 Phoenix; Salt River, Aug. 23; San Carlos, Mar. 10; Wheatfields (near Globe); 

 Winkleman. pima co.: Tucson, santa cruz co.: Nogales. yuma co.: 

 Bill Williams Fork. 



Colorado: no further data. 



"D.C.": locality questionable. 



Texas: no further data. 



Lexiphanes mexicanus (Jacoby, 1908) 



Figures 2, 11, 16 



Monachus mexicanus Jacoby, 1908, p. 830. 



Monachulus opacicollis Schaeffer, 1933, p. 321. [New synonymy.] 



Lexiphanes mexicanus (Jacoby). — Blackwelder, 1946, p. 643 (checklist). 



Diagnostic description: Frons black, surface alutaceous; clypeus 

 black and short; antennae a little longer than pronotum, basal seg- 

 ments narrow and fulvous, the apical six segments broader, flattened, 

 darker, with setae more uniformly distributed and shorter than those 

 of basal segments. Pronotum black, dull, alutaceous, with a few 

 medial basal punctures, impunctate in some cases. Prosternum 

 black, broader than long, finely alutaceous. Pronotal eipleura, 

 black, alutaceous. Mesosternum black, finely alutaceous, with 

 posterior marginal line. Elytra feebly shining, in some cases with 

 faint metallic sheen ; ground color black, in some cases with a hint of 

 blue, with yellowish-red median fasciae which do not surround the 

 humeri; striate-punctate, submarginal striae deeply impressed. 

 Scutellum small and with straight edges. Venter black; fifth ventral 

 abdominal segment of female with median fovea. Hindlegs black, 

 middle and forelegs variable. 



Variation: The observed size range, in millimeters, is 2.16 long by 

 1.50 Avide to 2.60 long by 1.90 wide. The average size is 2.52 long by 

 1.75 wide. Some of the dark colors show a bit of blue or purple. The 

 coloration of the prothorax was observed to vary from completely 

 black to 3"ello^vish-red with black pronotal spots. The latter is the 

 form of the here synonymized L. opacicollis Schaeffer. This form was 

 found to predominate in the northern extremes of the species' range 

 in much the same manner that specimens of L. guerini exhibited 

 geographical variation. Size varied in the pronotal spots as well as 

 in the width of elytra! fasciae. 



Discussion : The synonymization of L. opacicollis with L. mexicanus 

 was made after genitalic comparisons proved the conspecificity of 

 these two forms. In addition to ha\4ng examined the holotype of 

 L. mexicanus (British Museum, Natural History), Schaeffer's holo- 



782-212—65 2 



