128 BULLETIN 15 4, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



the aiilorior luisal in contact Avitli the second hihiah As both s])eci- 

 mens seem to agree with arizonae in all other respects, this name may 

 noAv be reoarded as a sjaionym of -per plexus?'' 



The 8-lined phase was described as octolineatus by Baird (1858, 

 p. 255) from a specimen from Niievo Leon, Mexico. Since it was 

 collected by Lieutenant Couch and the exact locality is unknown, it 

 may have possibly been collected still farther w^est. It is known 

 that he visited Coahuila, too. The original description is only a 

 few lines long and is largely indefinite. However, it w^as stated that 

 the back was " with eight equidistant and approximated light lines." 

 An examination of the type shows that it has no spots in the fields 

 and that its only peculiarity is the possession of eight lines. Yarrow 

 (1875, p. 558) reported octolineatus from New Mexico and Van 

 Denburgh (1924, p. 211) synonymized this record with perplexus. 

 On the other hand, Giinther (1885) made octolineatus a synonym of 

 deppii. The presence of four supraoculars and the general appear- 

 ance do not support the latter view, and the finding of an additional 

 S-lined specimen in western Texas (U.S.N.M. No. 33072), where 

 both G and 7 lined examples frequently occur, furnishes another bit 

 of negative evidence. After the consideration of the obvious simi- 

 larity of octolineatus to perplexus^ the discontinuous geographical 

 range of the known specimens, and the remarkable variation found 

 in the dorsal striping of peri)lexus^ the two forms are here re- 

 garded as synonjTiious. 



The usual spotted form of perplexus has been hitherto identified 

 as " gularis " without reference to the number of lines. As already 

 stated, complete transition from the unspotted to the spotted phase 

 occurs in many localities, so the recognition of a systematic diagnosis 

 based on these variations is impossible. In the region of Albu- 

 querque, N. Mex., some of the specimens are 7-lined and have only 

 a few spots. These spots are rather obscure and appear only in the 

 lower field just anterior to the insertion of the hind leg. Another 

 peculiarity lies in the fact that the dorsal stripes are usually more or 

 less wav3'. However, individuals identical to these are found in 

 other populations, so it seems illogical to consider this type of 

 variant as a distinct taxonomic unit. Examples of perplexus from 

 Albuquerque Avere seen by Gadow (1906), who described no other 

 l^hase. 



In 1892 Coj^e described septemvittatus from " Eldorado County, 

 California " as a species having " seven longitudinal broad black 

 bands on the dorsal surface." It was shown by Van Denburgh 

 (1897, p. 133) that the species Avas probably not an inhabitant of 

 California, and Gadow (1906, p. 133) Avrote that "to judge from 

 this solitary specimen, it seems to belong rather to the conwiunis of 



