— 3°— 



In the Atlantic region this insect lives upon willow bushes, and is 

 sometimes rather common in September. It is next to the smallest spe- 

 cies of the genus thus far discovered in North America, and will no doubt 

 prove to be extensively distributed on this continent when it becomes 

 more sufficiently known. 



2. P. amcenus, new sp. 



Piceous, opaque, highly polished beneath ; aspect i>i P. bifasaatus Fab., Imt 

 with a narrower pronotum which differs but very little in the two sexes : with the 

 sei ond joint of antennae more strongly and abruptly clavate on the apical oik- third. 

 Head long and broad, including the eyes about as wide as the base of the pronotum, 

 face obsoletely shagreened, transversely wrinkled, vertex with an impressed longitud- 

 inal line running from the middle of occipital ridge, and each side of this a shorter 

 diagonal impression connected inwardly with a depressed point. Rostrum pale rufo- 

 piceous, darker at base, reaching to the middle coxae y, but a little longer in the 

 male; antennae long, reddish yellow to beyond the middle of the second joint, that 

 joint longer than the head and pronotum united, the last two joints slender whitish, 

 the apical one a little dusky near the tip. Pronotum blackish-piceous, more or less 

 dull, sub-cylindrical, trapezoidal comparatively narrow, obsoletely scabrous and 

 wrinkled, but sinuated on the sides posteriorly, which is caused by the great prominence 

 of the postero -lateral angles ; middle line impressed, proceeding from an indentation 

 in front ; posterior-margin distinctly concave, and in front of this the surface convexly 

 elevated ; pleural flaps transversely wrinkled. Sternum and pleural pieces highly 

 polished, coxa; piceous, anterior wide in the middle, posterior pair broadly white at 

 tip; femora and tibiae piceous, the former usually paler at base. Hemelytra cin- 

 namon tulvous, piceous across the apical third and including the cuneus, corium with 

 a slender silvery band extending halt-way across the middle, a band of the same color 

 forming the basal boundary of the piceous part, and at the inner corner of the cuneus 

 a silvery clot ; membrane dusky with a darker spot at base. Scutellum black, tumid. 

 polished, minutely scabrous, the tip much depressed. Venter piceous black, highly 

 polished, a little rufescent when recently excluded. 



Length to tip of membrane 4.^ — 5£ mm.; to tip ol venter y\ 4', mm. Width of 

 base of pronotum 1 ' mm. 



This species closely resembles the P. bifasciatus Fab., Mantissa Ins. 

 II, 305, 264; of which .P. cinnamopterus Kirschb. , is a synonym. 



Our knowledge of the distribution of this species is as yet very inade- 

 quate. It sometimes abounds on Pine trees in late June and July in 

 Maryland. When fully matured some specimens have a faint bronze 

 tinge upon the surface of the pronotum, which is not apparent in others. 

 Possibly this peculiarity is due to the influence of the heat generated in 

 their bodies at the period of mateing. 



3. P. Walshii, new sp. 



This form has been held back for a long time in the hope that other 

 specimens may be secured to enable a wider comparison with the 

 European species. 



It is in reality much smaller than the P. clavatus Linn., to which it 



