68 CASEY 



1 7 — Form and coloration nearly as in compactus but much smaller, metallic- 

 purplish, shining, the pubescence fine, short and sparse; head coarsely, 

 unevenly and confluently punctate; antennae (9) unusually short; 

 prothorax moderately transverse, convex, narrov^^ed anteriorly, irregu- 

 larly and coarsely punctate, the punctures confluent laterally with large 

 rugosities, the broad median space simply irregularly and rather 

 sparsely punctate; hind angles right; elytra of the usual form, having 

 small irregular smooth places and also finely punctate, the punctures 

 somewhat regularly serial suturally but confused laterally and apically, 

 where they become somewhat transversely confluent though still not 

 dense; meso- and metasternal side-pieces not coarsely but subcon- 

 fluently punctate; abdomen rather finely, subrugosely punctured at the 

 sides; anterior tibiae very slightly arcuate, the intermediate and pos- 

 terior nearly straight. Length ii. 5-13.0 mm. Utah (Chadbum's 

 Ranch) juniperinus Wick. 



The sexual characters in this genus are feeble, and, although the 

 male is generally a little smaller and narrower than the female — 

 sometimes notably so, the readiest way to distinguish the sexes is by 

 the structure of the antennae, all the joints being elongate in the male, 

 the outer ones becoming rapidly shorter in the female. The anterior, 

 and sometimes also the intermediate, tibiae are arcuate, being more or 

 less serrulate within in the male, but the anterior are simply more or 

 less bent in the female. My cotype of juniperinus, very kindly sent 

 to me by Prof. Wickham, is a female measuring 11.5 by 4.0 mm. in 

 size; the species is peculiar in having the internal margins of the eyes 

 so feebly converging posteriorly, this character having been first 

 noticed by the original describer. The locality of carolinensis Horn, 

 is open to the gravest doubt, especially when we consider its perfectly 

 normal type of form, coloration and sculpture. I am of the opinion 

 that no species of Gyascutus occurs beyond the desert Sonoran prov- 

 inces. On comparing compactus with what purported to be a speci- 

 men of carolinensis in the LeConte cabinet, I found the latter to be 

 very similar, though rather less robust and with the scant pubescence 

 more vittate in arrangement on the elytra. In comparison with Hip- 

 potnelas, Stictocera and Spinthoptera, where individual stature appears 

 to be rather constant, the body in Gyascutus frequently varies enor- 

 mously in size within specific limits; individuals are usually abundant 

 when they occur at all. In the first section of the genus the broad and 

 densely punctate impression along the apical thoracic margin is much 

 more developed and abruptly defined than in the second section. 



