ABT. 9 



WEST INDIAN BUPEESTIDAE FISHER 37 



the sides, and from each puncture arises a long erect inconspicuous 

 hair. Elytra slightly flattened on disk, not quite as wide as pro- 

 notum; humeral angles obtusely angulated; sides feebly obliquely 

 narrowed to behind the middle, then arcuately attenuate to the tips, 

 which are conjointly acutely rounded, the lateral margins coarsely 

 serrate posteriorly; humeri strongly developed; surface striato-punc- 

 tate, the striae impressed, nearly as wide as the intervals on the disk 

 at base, becoming much narrower toward the apex, and rather widely 

 separated at the sides, the striae punctures deep, coarse, and sepa- 

 rated by about their own diameter, becoming finer and more oblong 

 toward the apex; intervals flat on the disk, more convex laterally, 

 with a single row of distant minute punctures, from which arises 

 a rather long erect inconspicuous hair, the fifth interval costate, 

 sometimes obsolete apically, but it is always distinct at the base. 

 xVbdomen beneath rather densely but not coarsely punctate, the punc- 

 tures shallow and open posteriorly, and sparsely clothed with long 

 inconspicuous hairs, the intervals smooth and shining; last ventral 

 segment broadly rounded at apex, without a distinct subapical carina. 

 Prosternum more coarsely and deeply punctate than the abdomen; 

 anterior margin feebly arcuately emarginate at the middle, with a 

 distinct lobe on each side of the emargination ; prosternal process 

 parallel to behind the anterior coxae, nearly three times as wide as 

 the coxal cavity, and feebly broadly rounded at apex. 

 Length, 8-13 mm. ; width, 3.2-4.75 mm. 



This species was described originally by Gray (1832) from Brazil. 

 Saunders (1871), and Fleutiaux and Salle (1890) record it from 

 Guadeloupe. Waterhouse (1889) described the same species from 

 Mexico as proxima, and Kerremans (1897) also described the species 

 from Guadeloupe under the name of contigu-a. Only two specimens 

 of this species from the West Indies have been examined, and both 

 of these were received from the British Museum, one labeled " Guade- 

 loupe (Fairm)," the other Guadeloupe (Plason) and labeled type 

 of contigua Kerremans. 



The species is widely distributed from Texas southward to Brazil, 

 but so far, has only been recorded from one of the West Indian 

 Islands. In a species so widely distributed, a great variation would 

 naturally be expected, but the only variation seen in a series of 

 specimens examined from widely separated regions, is that of the 

 transverse reddish or yellowish fasciae near the apex of the elytra, 

 and which has caused it to be described under a number of different 

 names. In some specimens the two fasciae are distinctly separated, 

 while in others they are more or less connected, forming a broad band 

 and enclosing one or more small dark spots. 



