CRYPTOCEPHALUS IN AMERICA NORTH OF MEXICO 3 



Color and pattern: In what I consider to be the primitive species of 

 the genus (the basalis group), the color is almost enthely black with 

 red or orange markings. The head, body, appendages, pronotum, and 

 much of the elytra are black, and usually there are red or orange basal 

 and apical spots on each elytron. In some species {arizonensis group), 

 the black of the elytra (and sometunes the pronotum) has a shining 

 bluish or greenish luster. In these species, the pronotum and ventral 

 surfaces are either black or orange. 



In most species, the usual body color can best be described as creamy 

 yellow, and this frequently varies to hght, medium, or deep orange. 

 Infrequently true yellows are represented among the species. Past 

 descriptions often refer to yellow markings, but comparison of the 

 specimens with a color chart shows that this color is often creamy 

 yellow or light orange rather than yellow. The creamy yellow or orange 

 frequently forms the background on both the pronotum and elytra for 

 dark markings of various sorts. Sometimes these dark markings pre- 

 dominate and seem to form the background for light markings. In 

 North American species, the dark markings vary from orange or red 

 to brown shading to black. Occasionally the pronotum is nearly or 

 quite unicolorous creamy yellow to orange or even red. In most species, 

 the discal portion of the pronotum bears markings darker than the 

 remainder that may be quite distinct to vague. The light (background) 

 color most often appears on both sides of the disk as two obUque 

 basal spots located on each side at the extreme lateral margin and at 

 the extreme apical margin. This basic pattern (fig. 16), I believe, has 

 served as the starting point for the other pronotal patterns as follows: 

 Extension of the light basal spots produces the pattern of the pro- 

 notum of cuneatus Fall (fig. 11), in which there are apparently three 

 sub equal, subparallel, longitudinal dark vittae; addition of a light 

 median stripe to this pattern leads to the pattern found in the leuco- 

 melas and amatus species groups (figs. 12 to 15). The elytral pattern, 

 when present, varies greatly interspecifically. The pattern may be 

 predominant light or dark markings and may consist of spots of 

 transverse undulate (rarely straight) bands, or longitudinal dark 

 vittae, or of median vittae and lateral spots, or may be irregular. 

 In a few species, the elytra bear vague markings, only a humeral spot, 

 or no distinct markings. Infrequently, the entire body is unicolorous 

 yellowish or hght orange. The dark elytral markings vary from dis- 

 tinct and sharply delimited to indistinct or obsolete. 



Pubescence: The ventral surface, appendages, and pygidium of all 

 species are more or less pubescent. The pubescence varies in density 

 from the thick, whitish pubescence of pubiventris Schaeffer to the 

 short and sparse pubescence of cerinus B. E. White. Only four species 



