444 



PSrCHE. 



[November 1S9&. 



Auleima. Hind feiii. Teg. Body. Total. 



cT 11-12 14.5-18 21-26.5 23-27 2S-32 



9 10-11.5 iS -21 26-31.5 34-38 35-4I.5 



The alHlomen of the $ usually 

 passes the end of the hind femora by 

 1 mm. ; tliat of the 9 b^' 3 mm. 



Though somewhat local this species 

 is rather common in southern New 

 England in wet, sedgy meadows along 

 rivers and brooks and in swampy tracts 

 where water often stands on the ground 

 for days at a time. It has a powerful, 

 swift, and sustained flight, often pro- 

 longed for one or two hundred feet in 

 a straight, slightly rising, then gradu- 

 ally descending course. It is quite shy, 

 taking flight readily, and rising rapidly 

 when flushed, and is best seemed by 

 marking down, following up, and cap- 

 turing while on the ground or on start- 

 ing to rise. The 9 is more difficult 

 to flush than the ^ and seems to be less 

 abundant; I have captured over zoo 

 specimens but in ordinary collecting 

 only about a tenth as many 9 as $ . 

 It may be looked for from the middle 

 of July till the end of the season ; I 

 have taken it at Readville, Mass., July 

 21, (? , 9, yg. ; Sherborn, Mass., Oct. 

 6. 9 ; and on intermediate dates at 

 Newtonville, Mass., and North Haven 

 and Thompson, Conn. Mr. Scudder 

 reports it from Andover and Williams- 

 town, Mass., and Norwav, Me. (Dist. 

 Ins. N. H.). 



14. Mecostethus gracilis Scudd. 

 Fig. 14. 



Arcyptera gracilis. .Scudder, 4G3, 

 — 1S63. 



Stelheophyma gracilis. Thomas, 

 99. 



StctJiopIiy ma gracilis. ^Ior^e, 105. 



This species may be readily distin- 

 guished from lineatus, which it most 

 resembles in the form of the pronotum, 

 by. the absence of a pale streak on the 

 base of the tegmina near the anterior 

 margin ; b\' the more compressed form 

 of the body, especially of the head and 

 prozona ; the smaller size ; the broader 

 tegmina, which have the internal bor- 

 der noticeably expanded ; and in the 

 case of the male by the height of the 

 teeth of the rasp, which are as high as 

 wide and acutely pointed. ("See platyp- 

 ;"(?/-«.? for comparison with that species). 



Antenna. Hind fem. Tegmina. Teg.=- Hind fern. 



<S 9 -10 12 -14 16.5-21 



$ 8.5- 9.5 14.5-16 17 -23-5 



Total. 



-3-5- -(-4 



Body. 



19-23 22.5-28 



26-33.5 24 -31.6 



The tip of the abilomen in the $ 

 usually reaches just about to the tip of 

 the hind femora ; in the 9 exceeds them 

 by half the length of the ovipositor, 

 one-and-a-half mm. It will be seen 

 that the tegmina of the 9 are very 

 variable in length. 



This species is not uncommon in the 

 northern States, even plentiful locally, 

 but rather sh}-, taking readily to wing 

 and flying two or three rods. Its flight 

 is straight and it drops rather suddenlv 

 into the grass. On the summit of 

 Greylock Mt., where most of my speci- 

 mens were procured, it was rather diffi- 

 cult to distinguish from Camnula pel- 

 liicida when flying. i'oth sexes fly 

 well Init tlie ^ is the more active. 



