NORTH AMKRICAN IlOMOPTKItA. 81 



Massachusetts, Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, Colorado and N. Mexico. 

 Through correspondents I liave received examples of this species 

 labeled Jiissiis scalaris and infumatus XJhl., probably manuscript 

 names employed by Mr. Uhler for this species prior to his publica- 

 tion of its description. 



18. PlilopNiiis siiperbus Uhl., M. S. 



AUiert to tli<^ precedinj; species, but without tlie white lobate commissural line ; 

 cheeks wrinkled. Length (i 5 mm. 



Head narrower tiiau the pronotum; vertex nearly flat, passage to the front 

 and the apex rounded ; length on the middle line about one-third greater than 

 next the eye; front rather long, strongly narrowed ajiically, length one-seventh 

 greater than the breadth ; clyi)eus long, a little con.«tricted near the base, length 

 twice the greate.st width, base strongly arcuated, apical edge concave: lorse long 

 and narrow, feebly angled within ; cheeks broad, edge rectilinear from the 

 prominent angle to the apex of the clypeus ; surface exterior to the outer line of 

 the lorse strongly longitudinally wrinkled. Pronotum twice the length of the 

 vertex, hind edge feebly arcuated, whole disc stiongly wrinkled, pits obscure or 

 wanting. Elytra shorter, more strongly narrowed apically and less retiexed than 

 ill excultns. 



Genital characters.— Male: (PI. I, fig. 24) Valve small and rounded; plates 

 short and broad, subqundraiigular, scarcely longer than the valve, reaching to 

 about the middle of the pygofers; apical margin slightly produced at the sutural 

 angle, outer submargin with a row of stout spines placed well in from the edge. 

 Pygofers long, triangular, narrowed apically, covered nearly to the plates with 

 stout dusky spines, suture straight. Female: Last ventral segment (PI. I, figs. 

 18 and 19) almost as in excidtns, but the lateral angles are more produced and 

 subacute, the sides of the broad triangular sinus are nearly straight, covering 

 the plates in the specimen before me, but leaving the long pointed valve well 

 exposed. Pygofers short and stout, their blunt apex slightly exceeded by the 

 oviduct and armed with numerous stout spines. 



Color: Venter, pronotum and scntellum, dull fulvous, closely irrorate with 

 brownish; scutellum with two longitudinal white lines; face fulvous-brown, 

 darker on the front, irrorate with pale, or dull yellow irrorate with brown, and 

 with about eight heavy fuscous frontal arcs, anterior coxse tipped with pale : 

 venter brown, irrorate with pale and with an interrupted pale median line bifur- 

 cated beyond the third segment. Elytra dull white, closely and evenly inscribed 

 with fuscous and marked with the usual brown spots on the costa and on the 

 claval nervures. Wings white, nervures brown. 



North Carolina and Arizona. Described from one female and 

 two male examples. Another female in my collection differs from 

 this species only in the form of the last ventral segment, which is 

 entirely wanting, except a small area of the lateral angles. The 

 large, pointed valve and the broad subquadrangular plates are thus 

 entirely exposed. I am inclined to consider this a mere monstrosity 

 and not as indicating a sjicciHc or even varietal rank. 



This species may be distinguished from excu/fit.-^ by its narrow, 



TRANS. AM. ENT. SOC. XIX. (11) APRIL. ISSti. 



