76 Coleopterological Notices, III. 



Stenochidus seems more closely related to Xarses Champ, than 

 to any of the other Central American genera, but the general aspect 

 of the species must be quite different. Our species are only two in 

 number and may be thus distinguished : — 



Very dull, the legs black, with the basal three-fourths of the femora red. 



gracilis 

 More shining, the eljtral punctuation more distinct; legs black throughout. 



cyanescens 



S. gracilis Lee. — Ann. Lye. N. Y., V, 1851, p. 150. — Oblong, subparallel, 

 strongly convex, black, the elytra sometimes with a bluish tinge, the basal 

 three-fourths of the femora red ; upper surface throughout Y^ry dull and 

 strongly reticulato-granulose. Head and pronotum somewhat coarsely, very 

 densely punctate; eyes small; antennae long and slender, gradually incras- 

 sate. Prothorax quadrate (male) or very slightly transverse (female), the apex 

 transversely truncate, almost as wide as the base, the latter very feebly bi- 

 sinuate ; basal angles slightly obtuse and quite distinctly blunt ; sides nearly 

 parallel and feebly arcuate, slightly more convergent near the apex ; disk 

 feebly, cylindrically convex, not impressed ; fovese obsolete. Elytra three and 

 one-half times as long as the prothorax and nearly one-half wider, rather 

 abruptly, obtusely ogival in apical third ; sides nearly straight, parallel ; 

 humeri narrowly rounded and broadly exposed at base ; disk with fine, 

 minutely punctate striae ; intervals not distinctly punctate. Abdomen more 

 shining, finely, sparsely punctate. Legs very long and slender, the hind tarsi 

 much shorter than the tibiae, with the basal joint distinctly longer than the 

 remainder. 



Male. — Eyes separated by two-thirds more than their own width ; antennse 

 two-thirds as long as the body, slender, feebly incrassate, the ninth joint fully 

 twice as long as wide ; maxillary palpi with the fourth joint rather more than 

 twice as long as wide, the angle at the support distinctly more than right, the 

 apex a little longer than the outer side ; abdominal punctures strong, becom- 

 ing closer toward apex, the fifth segment entire at apex, with the surface 

 broadly feebly impressed along the middle. 



Female. — Eyes separated by fully twice their width ; antennte one-half as long 

 as the body, gradually, rather strongly incrassate, the ninth joint obconical, 

 one-half longer than wide ; fourth palpal joint recti-triangular, twice as long as 

 wide, the apex not at all longer than the outer side ; abdomen very minutely, 

 feebly, sparsely and evenly punctate throughout. 



Length 7.0-S.O mm. ; width 2.3-2.9 mm. 



California (Santa Cruz and San Diego Cos.). 



The elytral striae are more strongly impressed in the female, very 

 feebly so in the male, and the third and fourth antennal joints are 

 equal in both sexes. The male is generally distinctly more slender 

 than the female. 



