March, 1922.] Chamberlin : The Genus Pcecilonota. 61 



spatiis obscuris Isevibus variegatus, ad apicem truncatis vix bidentatis, ab- 

 dominis apice integro. Long 48." 1 



Translation: Coppery-bronze, thorax subtransverse, base hollowed, 

 narrowed, sides widely rounded, roughly punctured dorsal costa some- 

 what broad and smooth, scarcely distinct (separated) from the others, 

 elytral strise (especially) quite closely punctate, variegated by obscure 

 smooth spaces, truncate at the apex, scarcely bidentate, the apex of the 

 abdomen whole. 



" One specimen, Baltimore, Mr. Wild. I was inclined to believe 

 this a very small specimen of P. thnrcura, and on comparison I find no 

 satisfactory character except size upon which to rest its distinction. 

 Nevertheless the last joint of the abdomen is rounded at the tip, which 

 distinguishes it at once from either sex of the preceding. From the 

 absence of hairs on the presternum, I suppose that the specimen is a 

 female." 



This species is known only by the type and there seems to be little 

 to add to the above. The status of a species erected from a single 

 female is hard to determine. The fact that the last abdominal segment 

 is rounded and almost entire (PI. VII, fig. 13) certainly seems to 

 separate this single known example from any of our other species. 

 The type is in the LeConte collection at Cambridge, Massachusetts. 



Pcecilonota cupripes Casey.2 



Specimens have been noted which fit Colonel Casey's description, 

 but the differences are only those one would naturally expect in a 

 species of wide distribution. A large series shows such forms to grade 

 into the typical cyanipes. The " more blackish " color is noted in 

 specimens from Texas and Lake Superior region; the "obscure 

 bronze " antennae in typical examples from Indiana. The scutellum 

 varies greatly in size, shape and color throughout the species, and the 

 presternum may be either flattened or convex; in a few examples it 

 appears to be slightly concave. The sinuation of the last ventral 

 segment varies and in the male of typical cyanipes it may be abrupt, 

 twice as wide as deep and the apices acute or rounded. 



The matter of what constitutes a valid species is certainly a matter 

 of opinion, but unless definite stable characters can be pointed out it 



1 From pp. 204-205 of Leconte, Revision of the Buprestidae of the United 

 States, Trans, of the Amer. Philosophical Society. Nov., 1859, Vol. 11. 



2 Casey, Studies in American Buprestidae, Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., XI, 

 pp. 168—169, 1909. 



