Introduction 



Leconte in 1880 published the last general treatment and key to the 

 members of the genus Cryptocephalus Miiller. Since numerous 

 changes were subsequently made and new species have been described, 

 his paper is now out of date. This lack of an up-to-date key has greatly 

 hindered recent work on the genus, and the need for a reexamination of 

 the species and a new key is quite apparent. 



The present study began as a thorough revision of a partial, unpub- 

 lished manuscript key by the late C. SchaefTer, but the need for a more 

 complete treatment of the genus, including descriptions and illustra- 

 tions to confirm doubtful determinations, led to its present form. A 

 total of 71 species and 33 subspecies are included herein. Three species 

 are newly synonymized, and three species are revahdated. Twelve new 

 species and six new subspecies are described. 



This paper is based almost entirely on the specimens in the U.S. 

 National Museum, a total of over 4,600 individuals; this series includes 

 all but one (pallidicinctus Fall) of the North American species described 

 previous to 1966. Numerous new state records and new host data have 

 been compiled from these specimens. 



My thanks are offered to John Wilcox of the New York State 

 Museum and to Burdette E. White of Ferris, California, for assistance 

 during the study and for the loan of specimens, to Howard Evans of 

 the Museum of Comparative Zoology for examination of one of 

 Leconte's types, and to Hugh Leech of the Cahfornia Academy of 

 Sciences and to Charles Triplehorn of the Ohio State University for the 

 loan of specimens. 



History— The taxonomic history of the genus Cryptocephalus for 

 North America began in 1787 when Fabricius described two species; 

 in 1798, he described another species that was subsequently renamed 

 because it was a homonym. In 1801, Fabricius added one more species. 

 Ohver (1808) described three species, all presently vahd. Germar 

 (1824) described a single species now placed in Cryptocephalus. Say 

 (1824) described nine species, two that remain in Cryptocephalus (one 

 is a subspecies) , two that are now synonyms, and five that are now 

 placed in other genera. Randall (1838) described a single species here 

 ranked as a subspecies. Newman (1840) described eight species; two 

 remain in Cryptocephalus, two are now ranked as synonyms, and the 

 other four are in other genera. Melsheimer (1848) described 16 species, 

 only two of which now remain in Cryptocephalus. Haldeman (1849) 



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