222 C0LE0PTERA OF NORTH AMERICA. 



Ologlyptus (Pactostoma Lee.) and Asida in Kansas and New 

 Mexico. 



Philolithus Lac. I have not adopted as it seems to merge im- 

 perceptibly into Pelecyphorus. 



Tribe III.— BRANCHINI. 



Body oval, moderately convex, apterous ; head flat, received 

 in the thorax as far as the eyes, which are transverse and mode- 

 rately coarsely granulated ; epistoma emarginate in the middle, 

 feebly trilobed (as in Asida), covering the base of mandibles ; 

 frontal suture indistinct ; labrum prominent, emarginate ; an- 

 tennae slender, 11-jointed, outer points broader ; mentum moder- 

 ate, trapeziform, emarginate in front, inserted upon a gular pe- 

 duncle which is distinctly fissured at the middle owing to the 

 coalescence of the gular sutures ; maxilla? exposed, palpi very 

 slightly dilated ; ligula moderately prominent, emarginate. Pro- 

 thorax bisinuate at base, hind angles slightly prolonged, embracing 

 the humeri ; elytra embracing widely the flanks of the abdomen ; 

 epipleurae narrow, suddenly dilated at the base ; anterior coxae 

 subtransverse, middle coxae with distinct trochantin, side pieces 

 attaining the coxal cavities ; metasternum short, episterna wide, 

 epimera distinct ; hind coxae separated, intercoxal process of ab- 

 domen truncate ; tibial spurs distinct, tarsi setose beneath. 



I have separated as a distinct tribe a new genus Branchus, 

 which seems to combine characters belonging to the South Ameri- 

 can tribes Nycteliini and Praocini. With the former it possesses 

 the medial gular fissure, with the latter the prominent emarginate 

 ligula ; the epipleurae are suddenly dilated at the base in all three. 



The species of Branchus somewhat resemble in form Opatrum, 

 and are opaque, coarsely punctured, and slightly pubescent ; on 

 the elytra are rows of vague foveas as in Discodemus, but more 

 strongly marked. They are known to me from Nicaragua, Island 

 of New Providence (Bahama), and Florida. A species from 

 Honduras differs from the others by its anterior tibiae being trun- 

 cate, and will, therefore, constitute a distinct genus ; in form it 

 resembles a broad Asida rather than Opatrum ; the tibiae of the 

 other species are prolonged at the outer angle, though less so 

 than in Eusattus and allied genera of Coniontini. So far as I 

 know, none of the species of this tribe are described. The species 

 from Florida, *61 unc. long, with the thorax strongly narrowed in 



