LeConte.] SPHEIsTOPHORTN^r. 331 



2. Anterior coxae 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. 



SCYPHOPHORUS Sch. 



The species of this genus are parasitic on Yucca, and seem to ine. rather 

 opinionative tlian actual. 



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

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

 lateral punctures elevated. S. interstitialis 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. 8. robmtior Horn, from Texas, has the 

 form of prothorax of 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 surfoce, and the single rows of punctures on the interspaces 

 of the elytra. 



METAMASIUS Horn. 



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

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

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



This species occr.rs in California and Arizona; also in Cuba, Mexico, and 

 S. America, as far as Peru. 



SPHENOPHORUS Sch. >?^' - r. ,i. i. j^z^ , /,^^ - 



, 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 

 ^^Z"'"^' ""' third joint of the tarsi is not spongy beneath, but merely pilose, sometimes 



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



■rJcj uJ,A>.i ■■ jfcu i^^.ii OACTOPHAGUS 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 absence of in- 

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

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

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

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

 or angulated. The gular peduncle, though deeply channeled, is regularly 

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

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



