October 1S95.] 



PSyCHE. 



293 



Spharagemon aequale Say. 



Grylli(s aequalis. Say, Journ. acad. 

 iiat. sc. Pliila. ser. i, v. 4, p. 307, — 

 Ainei'. ent., ed. Leconte, v. 3, p. 237. 

 (1S25.) 



Spharagevion aequale Say. Sciid- 

 der, Proc. Boston soc. nat. hist., v. 17, 

 469; Ent. notes, iv, 68 ; i (? (Boll, 

 No. 105) in collection, labeled at time 

 of revision. 



Spharagemon acqiiale Brunei" (/';/ 

 litt.) "on Thomas' authority." 



Spharagemon coUare Scudd. Bru- 

 ner, in Nat. mus. coll., labeled thus. 



Spharagemon 6o//i Scudt]. Bruner, 

 in Nat. mus. coll., labeled thus. 



Sp h a rage m o n -vyo >n ingia n it in 



Thos. (') in Nat. mus. coll., labeled 

 tlius. 



Oed. iitahensis Thos. Thomas, 

 in Nat. mus. coll., labeled thus. 



H\adrotettix'\ trifasciata Say. 

 Scudder (i 5, i 9, Texas, Belfrage) 

 in collection, thus labeled. 



Dissosteira texettsis Saussure is per- 

 liaps a synonym of this species. 



While it is now impossible, owin<^ 

 to the ilestruction of the types, to iden- 

 tify with certainty the species described 

 bv Say, and while I regret to disturb 

 existing nomenclature, it is yet neces- 

 sary to apply Say's name to that spe- 

 cies which the description best fits 

 which i\ihabits the territory from which 

 the types were procured. The most 

 valuable diagnostic characters of the 

 species of this genus are those relating 

 to the structure of the pronotum and 

 marking of the hind legs. This spe- 



cies, better than any otlier, agrees with 

 Say's statements "The thorax is not 

 gradually raised into a carina, but the 

 line is abrupt and of little elevation," 

 and "Hind thighs within with four black 

 bands." It is found in the territory 

 traversed by vSay (see Morse, — Proc. 

 Boston soc. nat. hist., xxvi, 223) and 

 is widespread. For these reason.s, and 

 from the fact that Harris's description 

 of aequale from Massachusetts indi- 

 cates the species most closelv allied to 

 this of those found there, I have ap- 

 plied Say's name to it. 



It seems probable that texensis 

 Sauss. (Prod. Oed., 135-137, 140) was 

 applied to a Texas form of this species, 

 but from an examination of over sixty 

 specimens from various parts of tiie 

 West, although much variation occurs 

 in size and in height of the carina on 

 the metazona, I have been unable to 

 perceive any satisfactory or desirable 

 subdivision of the species, still less an 

 allied but distinct member of the genus. 

 The specimen above referred to as 

 labeled tttahensis by Thomas should 

 not be regarded as the type of iitahen- 

 sis Thos. While it agrees in length of 

 hind femora and breadth of wingband 

 with Thomas' description it disagrees 

 in the structure of the pronotum with 

 both the description and figure pub- 

 lislied (U. S. Geog. Surv., Wheeler's 

 Rep't, v.,8S3, pi. 44, fig. 3). As there 

 characterized ii/ahcnsis belongs to the 

 coUare series. 



Aequale is closely reseml)led by a 

 species of Trimerotropis occurring in 

 the same territory which may be dis- 



