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SOME NEW SPECIES OF LACHNOSTERNA. 



By John B. Smith. 



For more than a year I have been, during odd moments, studying 

 the species oi Lachnosierna, more especially with the aim of bringing out 

 prominently the remarkable sexual characters of the species — characters 

 which shed so strong a light on specific relationships that their study can 

 not be much longer neglected. Not the male only, but the female as 

 well, show excellent and sharply defined characters which place species 

 upon a much more solid foundation than heretofore possible by a study 

 of external structure merely — structures which are all more or less vari- 

 able, and which allow too much latitude to individual opinion. The 

 sexual characters within my experience are absolutely invariable — there 

 is no "more" or "less," but they are practically identical, and equally 

 constant in both sexes. Where any difference appears, it is indicative of 

 a distinct species, though on the other hand I am not prepared to say 

 that identity^ of sexual structure in all cases indicates identity of species. 

 It would do so in Lachnosierna, in my opinion. These studies on the 

 sexual charactere of Lachnosierna are now completed, and I have figured 

 87 of the species in 265 figures The paper is ready for the printer, and 

 will appear in due course in the Proceedings of the United States Nat'l 

 INIuseum, As there is usually considerable delay in the printing of these 

 Proceedings, I prefer to describe the new species now, to call attention 

 to them during the pre>ent season. In "Insect Life," No. 6, I have 

 already described four species, usually combined under the term fusca^ 

 another of these forms has come into my hands, equally deserving spe- 

 cific recognition. 



L. insperata, sp. nov. 



Agrees very completely with Dr. Horn's description o{ /usca, and 

 superficially no obvious dififerences are apparent. The ventral characters 

 of the male resemble those oi dubia and arcuata, the ridge being strongly 

 arched and small, but situated back from the posterior margin of the 

 penultimate segment and not overhanging the last. In the female I 

 have found no distinctive characters. Six specimens, taken under 

 stones early in Spring by Mr, M. L. Linell, at Snake Hill, N. J., are 

 before me — 4 of them males, 2 females. The specimens are dark in 

 color, and large and stout, resembling most nearly the larger form of 

 fusca, w'hich occurs with it. The male is readily recognizable, and I 

 picked out the species immediately from a mixture of other specimens. 

 The sexual structures bear out perfectly the position assigned, which is 

 between arciiaia Smith, and dubia Smith. 



