NEOBROTICA AND RELATED GENERA — BLAKE 293 



Neobrotica sexmacuUita Jacoby 



Figure 32 



Neobrotica sexmaculata Jacoby, in Godman and Salvin, Biologia Centrali-Ameri- 

 cana, Coleoptera, vol. 6, pt. 1, p. 578, 1887. 



About 6.5 mm. in length, oblong oval, somewhat shmy, not at all 

 alutaceous, the prothorax with a transverse sulcus, the elytra with 

 many costae, the intervals being striate punctate, pale yellow, each 

 elytron with six dark spots, slightly metallic violaceous, one on the 

 humerus, one near the scutellum, a pair before the middle and a pair 

 in line with them below the middle; antennae (except the last three 

 joints), tibiae and tarsi dark. 



Head with the interocular space about half the width of head, 

 occiput finely punctate, a depression above the frontal tubercles, 

 lower front almost flat, with a short broad carina only slightly raised, 

 tips of mouthparts brownish. Antennae in the type specimen broken, 

 the lower joints brown, ninth pale (in other specimens that correspond 

 with the type the three last joints are pale). Prothorax almost 

 rectangular, shghtly rounded at the sides, the transverse sulcus across 

 the middle well defined and deep ; the surface shining, finely punctate, 

 pale. Scutellum pale. Elytra with many costae between which the 

 rows of punctures are deeply sunken either in a single row, some- 

 times geminate, or even alternate; each elytron with piceous spots 

 having a faintly metalhc violaceous lustre, one on the humerus, a 

 small one between that and the scutellum near the base, a second row 

 before the middle, one lateral, the other median, and a third row 

 below the middle, one lateral, the other median. In the second 

 specimen these spots are larger. Body beneath pale, the tibiae 

 and tarsi brown. Length 6.5 mm.; width 3.3 mm. 



Type, female BMNH, from Tlatingo, Mexico. 



Remarks: Besides Jacoby's type from Tlatingo, Mexico, (Federal 

 District), there are in the British Museum (Natural History) under 

 that name three other specimens, only one of which closely resembles 

 the type, and this one has the label "Mex." The other two specimens, 

 one of which is labelled "Mex." are like the ones that I am describing 

 from Matamoras, Mexico, as Neobrotica matamorasensis. In the 

 unidentified material in the British Museum I have found two others 

 like the type, one collected at Temascaltepec, circa 5000 ft., in 1913 

 by H. E. Hinton and R. L. Usinger, and one collected at Cuernavaca 

 by Hinton. There is one in the U.S. National Nuseum from Cuerna- 

 vaca collected in August by Krauss on the leaves of Lantana, and one 

 in the CaHfornia Academy of Sciences in the Fenyes collection from 

 Cuernavaca, collected by Barrett. 



N. sexmaculata is one of four closely related races, possibly species, 

 that occur in Mexico and Arizona. Fall (Trans. American Ent. 



