LeConte.] 



cryptorhy:n^chiot:. 225 



CONOTRACHBLUS Sch. 



This genus contains some of the most formidable enemies of our culti- 

 vated fruits, especially the stone fruits, such as the plum, apricot, &c. 



They are easily recognized Ijy the characters given above, to which may 

 be added the folloAving, which serve to distinguish this from some foreign 

 genera; the antennal grooves are not confluent behind, and the hind thighs 

 are not pedunculated, 



A singular though harmless error has been committed by Schonherr and 

 his collaborators in describing the antennae of most of the species as "longe 

 pone medium rostri sitae." Geometrically this is correct, as the rostrum 

 when not used in feeding, or in its equally legitimate occupation as ovipos- 

 itor, is inflexed upon the breast, and directed backwards; its tip is there- 

 fore in that position the posterior extremity. Morphologically, however, 

 the beak being an extension of the longitudinal axis of the body, the tip is 

 the anterior extremity; the word pone in the description should therefore 

 have been ultra. The insertion of the antennae behind the middle of the 

 beak probably does not occur in this tribe, or group, though in some of the 

 long beaked species of this genus (Nos. 11-13,) they attain nearly that po- 

 sition. 



The species indicate the following divisions : 



Claws divergent, toothed 2".. 



" approximate, cleft, (as in Anthonomus) 3. 



2. Prothorax not sulcate, usually carinate I. 



(A. Elytral costae interrupted; thighs bidentate : 

 B. " entire, or absent, thighs unidentate). 

 Prothorax broadly sulcate, with two crests in front II, . 



3. Pubescence prostrate, fine III. 



" mixed with stout, erect bristles IV. 



As these divisions require fuller definitions, the synoptic table of the- 

 species will be found under each. 



Division I— A. Sp. 1-9. 



The species of this division are related to C nenupliar, and agree with 

 it in having the costae of the third and fifth interspaces of the elytra more 

 or less interrupted in two places. The prothorax is not sulcate, but usually 

 distinctly carinate, and strongly constricted near the tip; the thighs are bi- 

 dentate. These characters, except the last, are evanescent in C. nimsus, 

 which shows a passage to Division II, and appears closely allied to C 

 Uucophceahis. 



The pubescence is short, line and appressed; it forms a more or less com- 

 plex pattern of slender pale lines each side of the prothorax, and a bi'oad 

 band behind the middle of the elytra. In well preserved specimens the 

 color and distribution of the pubescence afford easy characters for the recog- 

 nition of the species; but otherwise, they are closely allied, and require 

 care in their separation. 



PROC. AMER. PHILOS. SOC. XV. 96. 2C 



