NORTH AMERICAN BUPRESTID BEETLES 5 



referred to the first series, but when the third and fourth joints are 

 similarly cylindrical, then it belongs to the second series. 



Pronotvm. — The sides of the pronotum when seen from above are 

 quite variable in shape, and in many of the species can not be used 

 in separating allied species. The lateral margin is acute and forms 

 the marginal carina, which, when viewed from the side, is straight 

 or sinuate. Under this carina there is another more or less arcuate 

 one, called the submarginal carina, which joins the marginal carina 

 at or in front of the posterior angles, but rarely the two carinae are 

 separated for their entire length. On each side near the posterior 

 angle is a prehumeral carina (called the lateral carina by some 

 writers) and this carina is more or less strongly developed, arcuate 

 or straight, sometimes long and approaching the marginal carina 

 near the middle; frequently the carina is replaced by an obtuse 

 swelling, and in a number of species it is entirely absent. The disk 

 is convex, or more or less uneven, and sometimes very deeply 

 depressed. 



Scutellum. — In many of our species the scutellum is distinctly 

 transversely carinate, the carina entirely absent in others, and in a 

 few cases it is strongly interrupted at the middle. 



Elytra. — In the greater number of our species the sides of the 

 elytra are slightly sinuate behind the humeri, and then more or less 

 expanded behind the middle, but in a few species they are narrowed 

 from the humeri to apex, without scarcely any sinuations. In most 

 cases the sides of the abdomen are more or less visible from above, 

 especially in the females. The surface is usually more or less flat- 

 tened above, sometimes with the sutural margins elevated posteriorly, 

 and the space along the suture depressed. In a number of the species 

 each elytron has a vague longitudinal costa, which is very distinct in 

 a few of the species of the tropical type found in the southwestern 

 part of the county. The surface sculpture is nearly the same in all 

 our species, only varying in coarseness, and is described as imbricate- 

 punctate (resembling the scales on a fish or shingles on a roof). 

 The surface is usually more or less pubescent, when seemingly glab- 

 rous, it is in reality covered with a very fine, nearly invisible blackish 

 pilosity, and in many of the species the elytra are ornamented with 

 pubescent spots, longitudinal vittae, or irregular designs, but fre- 

 quently some of these markings are more or less denuded, and care 

 must be exercised in making use of them. The apices of the elytra 

 are usually rounded in our species, but in a few species they are 

 acuminate, prolonged, or bidentate. 



Prosternuni. — The prosternum is anteriorly margined by a more 

 or less developed prosternal lobe, which is rounded, or more or less 

 deeply emarginate in front, and sometimes almost concealing the 

 mouth. In many of the species this emargination is quite variable in 



