2 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 290 



described the subgenus Canthosteihus and twelve species that he placed 

 in Cryptocephalus; four are now synonyms, and eight are accepted as 

 valid. Suffrian (1852a) added four names to the list; three are now 

 vahd, and one is a synonym. Also, Suffrian (1852b) later added six 

 names, two that are synonyms and four that are now valid. Then in 

 1858 he contributed three more names; two are presently vahd and one 

 now a synonym. Leconte (1859a and 1859b) described two new 

 species, both of which are presently accepted. Crotch (1874) described 

 C. nigerrimus, now ranked as a subspecies. Leconte (1880) presented 

 a key to the North American species of Cryptocephalus known to him 

 and described eight species; one is herein synonymized, and the other 

 seven are accepted as vahd. Jacoby (1880) described a single species 

 that is now a part of the North American fauna. Casey (1884) added 

 a single name to the Ust, but this is now a synonym. Linell (1897) 

 described a presently vahd species. Schaeffer (1904), in the first of a 

 series of papers including members of the genus, described two species 

 that are presently valid. In 1906, he added four new species. Blatchley 

 (1913) described sanfordi, presently a synonym of luteolus Newman. 

 Clavareau (1913) changed two of the names accepted at that time, and 

 one remains in use. Schaeffer (1920) described three additional species, 

 all from the southwest. Blatchley (1923) presented notes on this genus 

 in which he correctly validated two names previously ranked as 

 synonyms and synonymized one name. Fall (1932) described five new 

 species in the genus; four remain unaltered; one, having been synony- 

 mized, is herein revahdated as a subspecies. Schaeffer (1933) described 

 three new species and two new subspecies; in 1934 (in the last of his 

 papers on this genus) he described three new species and two new 

 subspecies in addition to contributing taxonomic notes. In 1937, 

 Burdette E. White described one new species and two new subspecies. 



Biology — Little is known about the biotic associations of Crypto- 

 cephalus species. The larvae are apparently all case bearers, and most 

 are thought to feed on dead vegetable material on the surface of the 

 soil. The adults feed on leaves, flowers, or fruits of plants, and the 

 data on the labels of some specimens record them as feeding on 

 economically important plants. A few species for which we have 

 numerous records on adult habits apparently feed on a variety of 

 plants. No North American species are recorded in the literature as 

 important pests. 



Morphology — The diagnostic characters of Cryptocephalus are as 

 follows: Front edge of prosternum lateral to each coxa straight; 

 claws simple; pronotum crenulate at its base. This combination of 

 characters serves to distinguish the genus from aU other North 

 American genera of Cryptocephalinae. 



