128 Journal New York Entomological Society, t'^'o'- ^^^' 



SYNCALYPTA SPINOSA IN NORTH AMERICA. 



By Charles W. Leng, 

 West New Brighton, N. Y. 



It is said in Col. T. L. Casey's paper on the Byrrhidse (Mem. Ill, 

 1912) that the genus Syncalypta s. str. does not occur in America. 

 This statement now appears to require modification, for while collect- 

 ing near Batavia, N. Y., in June, 1916, under the guidance of Mr. 

 Harry H. Knight, and in company with Mr. Wm. T. Davis and Prof. 

 J. Chester Bradley, I found beetles of this genus in abundance. The 

 locality was a lane through the Chapin farm, which had been flooded 

 shortly before our visit, and I was examining piles of rubbish left 

 by the receding waters when I noticed a minute, convex, oval beetle, 

 beset with clavate hairs, crawling on the soil between roadside weeds. 

 Continued search by all members of the party showed that it was not 

 uncommon locally and about fifty specimens were obtained. 



The determination of the species has not however proven an 

 easy task; the resemblance to Syncalypta spinosa Rossi, common in 

 middle and southern Europe according to Ganglbauer (Kafer von 

 Mittel Europa, IV, i, p. 86) is so strong that I am inclined to believe 

 our find was an introduced colony, particularly as the western part 

 of New York abounds in colonies of introduced epigseal Rhyncho- 

 phora, such as Phyllobius imprcssifvons at Batavia and Barypcithcs 

 pdlncidus at Portage. However, Casey mentions the possession of 

 but three specimens of Curimopsis, a subgenus of Syncalypta, as an 

 example of the rarity of these insects in our collections and it may 

 be that from its rarity, the American species of Syncalypta s. str. has 

 heretofore been overlooked. 



I have consulted with Mr. Chas. Schaeffer and with Mr. E. A. 

 Schwarz on this point and from the latter I learned of an addi- 

 tional locality for Syncalypta, viz. : Suftield, Conn., 1913, the specimen 

 being in the U. S. National Museum, where also additional material 

 in Curimopsis may be found. The final decision as to the status of 

 the Batavia specimens must be made in conjunction with the study 

 of these allied forms; but in the meantime it is evident that the genus 

 occurs in America. 



