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PSYCHE 
[August 
or sul)angulate a short distance behind the apex, thence quite strongly conver- 
gent and but feebly sinuate before the hind angles. In nitciis and soiiiopiicus 
the sides are normally subangulate in front, less convergent and still straighter 
posteriorly. In obscurus there is but one discal puncture except in very rare 
instances, an extra puncture being present on one side only in two examples of 
a series of forty specimens. In iiitcns the majority of specimens have two 
discal punctures, one of which is frequently lost on one or both sides, while in 
scmiopcicus there are normally three or four punctures, very rarely only 
two. Although quite variable in size, obscurus is on the w'hole our 
largest and broadest species (4 1-2-6 mm). In color it is rather strongly 
bronzed, the base of the antennae and tibiae paler. The lateral interstriae are 
at most slightly alutaceous, often scarcely visibly so except at apex, which is 
usually obscurely yellowdsh, the pale shade sometimes extending w-ell forward, 
becoming gradually evanescent. 
Obscurus is knowm to me only from the Sierras of California, ranging 
from Shasta ( Blaisdell ) to San Bernardino, occurring only near the summit 
of the mountains in the south, but at lower levels toward the north. 
10. N. iiitcus Lee. 
Closely allied to obscurus, but smaller, with relatively smaller head and 
with the sides of the prothorax straighter and less convergent behind. The 
elytral striae are as a rule scarcely impressed and more finely punctured, and 
the lateral intervals are aKvays distinctly alutaceous. In the type there is 
but a single discal puncture, but the normal number ( if there can really be 
said to be one) seems to be two. In the seven examples at hand, four have 
two punctures, two have two punctures on one elytron and one on the other, 
while one has the disk of each unipunctate. In the type there is a yellow s]X)t 
or vitta in the apical fourth ; this is more or less evident in most specimens, but 
may be entirely absent. 
The type and only specimen known to Le Conte was taken by Dr. Cooper 
at Prairie Paso, Oregon. The species seems not to have since been recognized 
by collectors, hut I am quite confident that specimens taken at Dalles, Oregon 
and Cocur d' Alene, Idaho, by Mr. Wickham, are the same species. With these 
I have also placed a Waco. Texas specimen sent by Mr. Knaus, and a perfectly 
similar one, also from Texas, but without exact locality, belonging to the 
Camhiidge Museum collection These are a little smaller than the northern 
