LeContc.] 



SPHENOPHORiiirr. 331 



2. Anterior cox« widely distant METAMASIUS. 



" " narrowly separated 3. 



3. Third joint of tarsi patellate, spongy surface 



not divided CAOTOPHAGUS. 



Third joint of tarsi patellate, spongy, narrowly 



divided .'. RHODOB^NUS. 



Third joint of tarsi pilose at the sides or glabrous. SPHENOPHORUS. 



SOYPHOPHORUS Sch. 



The species of this genus are parasitic on Tucca, and seem to me rather 

 opinionative than actual. 



1. S. acupunctatus is found in California, Colorado, and Mexico; it is 

 somewhat shining, with the prothorax moderately constricted at tip, and the 

 lateral punctures elevated. S. iiiterstitialis of Cuba, has the same punctu- 

 ation of prothorax, but a little stronger, and the apical constriction is less 

 marked; the lustre is more dull. S. robustior Horn, from Texas, has the 

 form oi^ prothorax o( acupunctatus, but the punctures are coarser, and the 

 lateral ones are less elevated; the lustre is also dull as in S. interstitialis. 



2. S. yuccse Horn, from California, is quite distinct by the more de- 

 pressed upper surface, and the single rows of punctures on the interspaces 

 oif the elytra. 



METAMASIUS Horn. 



M. sericeus Horn, Pr. Am. Phil. Soc. 1873, 410. Calandra sericea 

 Latr. Humb. and Bonpl. Voyage, v, 41, Tab. 22, f. 4; Oliv. 83, p. 84; Tab. 

 28, f. 109; Sphenophorus set: Gyll.. Sch. Cure, iv, 896. 



This species occurs in California and Arizona; also in Cuba, Mexico, and 

 S. America, as far as Peru. 



SPHENOPHORUS Sch. 



The species S. IS-punctatus and validus contained in Horn's Group ii, 

 should each constitute a distinct genus; the other species, in which the 

 third joint of the tarsi is not spongy beneath, but merely pilose, sometimes 

 broad, sometimes narrow, might be regarded as constituting but one genus. 



CACTOPHAGUS n. g. 



I would separate as a distinct genus- a species of large size, and dull vel- 

 vety black color, which differs from Sphenophorus, by the absencfc of in- 

 equalities or coarse sculpture, and by the third joint of the tarsi being some- 

 what transverse, and uniformly densely spongy beneath; the first and sec- 

 ond joints are narrow, and glabrous beneath. The tibise are slender, not sin- 

 uate, and the outer part of the tip is regularly rounded, not at all truncate, 

 or angulated. The gu'ar peduncle, though deeply channeled, is regularly 

 rounded at the end, not abruptly subtruncate as in Sphenophorus; whereby 

 the beak remains cylindrical, and is not at all compressed at tip. 



