LeConte.] 



TROPIDEBIXI. 397 



third bilobed, not narrower, but shorter than the second; claws acutely- 

 toothed at the middle. Mentum transverse, less deeply emarginate than 

 usual, with the emargination nearly filled by the broad basal piece of the 

 ligula; transverse suture between the gula and mentum distinct. 



Antennal club 3-jointed 2. 



" " solid, sensitive only at tip HORMISCUS. 



2. Eyes feebly emarginate; claws indistinctly toothed. . TOXOTROPIS. 

 Eyes strongly emarginate ; claws cleft almost to the 

 base GONOPS. 



HORMISCUS Wollaston. 



In this genus the form is cylindrical and less slender than in Tropideres. 

 The beak is broad and flat, not longer than the head, with the antennal 

 cavities lateral, not covered by the sides. Eyes rather large, less finely 

 granulated, oblique, feebly emarginate; antennas alike in both sexes, hardly 

 extending to the base of the prothorax, club oval, apparentlj' solid. Pro- 

 thorax scarcely longer than wide, gradually narrowed in front; more rap- 

 idly narrowed behind the transverse carina, which is slightly oblique, par- 

 allel with the base, and ends each side in a lateral cusp. 



1. H. saltator, n. sp. 



Brownish black, mottled with spots and bands of cinereous pubescence; 

 prothorax densely and finely punctured; elytra with rows of large and deep 

 punctures, about tv^ice as long as the prothorax. Length 1.2-1.6 mm. ; .05 

 -.07 inch. 



Middle and Western States, not rare; I have adopted the specific name 

 with which it is labeled in the collection of the late Dr. Zimmermann. 

 There are few prominent characters in this singular little insect, except such 

 as are of generic value. It agrees with the Galipagoan H. variegattis in 

 having the transverse ridge of the prothorax broadly angulated at the 

 middle, but the latter differs, according to description, in color, and in 

 having the elytra indistinctlj' punctato-striate. The specimens vary greatly 

 in appearance, according as the pubescence is more or less abraded. In the 

 best preserved individual, the prothorax is mottled, and the elytra also, but 

 the mottlings of the latter are arranged so that a subscutellar space on each 

 elytron, and a broad, post-medial band not reaching the margin, are left 

 free from cinereous spots. The posterior transverse carina of the prothorax 

 is slightly oblique, forming a very obtuse angle backwards on the median 

 line, and projects at the side as a small, sharp cusp. 



TOXOTROPIS n. g. 



This genus is closely related to Hormiscus, and in fiict only differs from 

 it by the antennal club which is elongate-oval, compressed, and composed 

 of three distinct joints equal in length. The eyes are rather finely granu- 

 lated, and only feebly emarginate; the antennal cavities are small and 

 rounded. The antebasal ridge is regularly curved in an arc of ti circle, for 



