ITO Coleopterological Notices. 



THYCE Lee. 



The single species, which has been regarded as the t^'pe of this 

 genus, has hitherto been represented by a single female, and the 

 recent discovery of the male by Mr. Dunn at El Paso, Texas, indi- 

 cates the absence of generic difference between it and most of the 

 Californian species separated as Plectrodes.^ The structure of the 

 anterior coxae is identical, and the teeth of the tarsal claws are quite 

 plainly unequal, to fully as great a degree in fact in T. squamicoUis, 

 as in many of the recognized species of Plectrodes. Our species 

 may be separated as follows, the characters referring to the males : — 



Fourth joint of tlie maxillary palpi one-third as long as the antennal club.^ 



Carpenter! 



Fourth joint three-fifths as long as the antennal club; elytra neaiiy glabrous. 



squaniicollis 



Fourth joint three-fourths as long as the antennal club. 



Elytra moderately densely pubescent ; last palpal joint oval, with the 



groove almost evenly ellipticaF palpalis 



Elytra extremely densely clothed with very minute, recumbent, squamiform 

 hairs ; last palpal joint robust, the groove widening toward base. 



pulTerea 

 Fourth joint just visibly shorter than the antennal club, the apex acute and 



deflexed fossiger 



Fourth joint two-thirds longer than the antennal club Harforcli 



In Carpenteri and also in Plectrodes jmbescens the excavated 

 groove in the fourth palpi joint is narrow, shallow and feeble, and 

 is much shorter than the joint; in the remainder it is narrow, very 

 deep, and extends throughout the length. 



The females are much less abundant than the males, and differ 

 considerably. The fourth palpal joint is small and moi'e uniform 

 in size with reference to the antennal club, and, although impressed 

 externally, the groove is shallow and only partial, even in the 



1 The genus Plectrodes is represented only by the original P. pubescens of 

 Horn. In this species the anterior coxse do not diflFer in form from the same 

 members in Thyce, but the abdominal segments are much shorter, and are 

 almost completely free, requiring but slight force to break them asunder. In 

 all the other species the ventral segments are long and connate, to absolutely 

 the same degree as in Thyce squamicoUis, being indicated only by feebly im- 

 pressed lines. The genus Plectrodes should therefore be placed in the Melo- 

 lonthini, where it will constitute one of the transitions to the Macrophyllini. 



2 Horn, Trans, Am. Ent. Soc, VIII, p. 146, and PI. Ill, fig. 7. ^ Ibid. 



