STUDIES IN THE AMERICAN BUPRESTID.C 1 25 



15 — Elytral apices nninded. Body oblong, rather more convex, sometimes 

 feebly inllated beliind the middle, slightly shining, dark coppery-brown, 

 duller laterally than medially; head as usual in the preceding species, 

 with dense compressed punctures and fine central carina; prothorax 

 three-fourths or more wider than long, the sides straighter and more 

 parallel in basal, more converging in apical, half, sculptured as in the 

 preceding but more closely throughout, the apex similarly feebly bisin- 

 uously truncate; scutellum elongate, subquadrate, impressed, cu])reous; 

 elytra three-fourths or more longer than wide, from very evidently to 

 at least two-fifths wider than the prothorax, the apex transverse at the 

 suture, broadly rounded externally, the sutural angles right; surface 

 with the low flat costae punctured, closely and coarsely so externally, the 

 intervales very densely, not very coarsely cribrate; under surface bright 

 cupreous, the sculpture nearly as in canadensis. Length 1 3.0-18.0 

 mm.; width 4.8-6.8 mm. Pennsylvania to Ontario .. obscura n. sp. 



Elytral apices narrower, truncate to sinuato-truncate and more or less 

 evidently bidenticulate. Body more elongate and parallel, relatively 

 narrower and somewhat less convex, dark coppery-brown to blackish; 

 head a little larger than in obscura, with dense compressed punctures 

 which are rather coarse and subglabrous ( 9), or finer and moderately 

 pubescent (c?), with a median densely punctate depressed area divided 

 by the central carina and generally green in color; eyes only moderate 

 in size but prominent, generally black; prothorax almost twice as wide 

 as long, the sides as a rule strongly converging in apical, nearly parallel 

 and straighter in basal, half, the surface scarcely at all or very feebly 

 impressed along the middle, the sculpture as in canadensis but closer 

 throughout, the lustre generally more cupreous laterally; scutellum 

 broader, cupreous, concave; elytra four- fifths longer than wide, but 

 slightly wider than the prothorax, seldom at all inflated behind the 

 middle, the sculpture nearly as in obscura though rather coarser; 

 under surface not cupreous but bronzed, the abdomen rather closely 

 punctate throughout and somewhat more strongly so than in obscura. 

 Length 13. 5-18. 8 mm.; width 4.7-6.7 mm. North Carolina, Alabama 

 and Louisiana striata Fabr. 



Several of the above species are represented by series sufficiently 

 full to show clearly the extent of specific variation. This is perhaps 

 most evident in the form of the prothorax, which may be subpromi- 

 nently rounded at the sides to evenly trapezoidal with feebly and 

 evenly arcuate sides, within specific limits, also in the degree of in- 

 flation of the elytra, which are often notably wider behind the middle 

 than at the humeri. The form of the elytral apices, on the other hand, 

 seems to be one of the more constant characters, and, on the whole, 

 the most useful in characterizing certain species which resemble 

 each other superficially. The species described by Say under the 



