172 THE ORDER OF COLEOPTERA. 



F r. Elytra punctured in rows; size very small, withont spots or stripes. 

 L. AntenniB with eleven joints ; hind tarsi normal. 

 M. Hind tibiae robust, and terminated by a bifid spur; body perfectly oval: head 

 deeply immersed in the thorax ; size small ; color brassy-black. . . Dibolia 

 M M. Hind tibia toothed and farrowed on the outer side ; very small ; blue or 



brassy Ch^tocnema. 



M M M. Hind tibia normal ; thorax with a deep impression near the base ; color 



dark metallic or reddish Crepidodera. 



L L. Antennse ten-jointed ; hind tarsi attached to the side of the tibia : 



PSYLLIODES. 



Galeruca, Geoff., contains a considerable number of species, some of 

 which are common but inconspicuous. Diahrotica, Chevr., has been 

 divided into a number of subgenera, agreeing in size and form, but the 

 •more common species are readily distinguished by their color, Diahro- 

 tica proper being usually pale yellow with black spots or stripes, Pliyl- 

 lohrotica, Dej., being tawny or orange with black spots or stripes, and 

 Phyllecthrus being blue black with a yellow thorax. Diabrotica means 

 one that gnaws tJirough; Phyllobrotica, a leaf-gnawer; and Phyllec- 

 thrus, a leaf-enemy ; all of which terms have reference to their leaf-eating 

 and often destructive habits. 



The Striped cucumber-beetle is the Z). vittata, Fab. Luperus, Geoffr., 

 also meaning injurious, contains a few small species, some of which are 

 of rich metallic colors ; but none of our species are sufficiently numerous 

 to be injurious. Blepharida, Chev., forms a connecting link between 

 Haltica and Chrysomela, having the oval form and distant antennie of 

 the latter, and the enlarged thighs of the former. It contains but two 

 species, one of which is the B. rhois, of Forster, a mottled reddish beetle, 

 quarter of an inch long, found abundantly on the sumach. GEdionycJiis, 

 Latr., contains many species, most of which do not vary much from a 

 quarter of an inch in length. The most common style of coloration is 

 that of a yellow thorax and dark metallic elytra, but some are brown 

 or yellow with black stripes. In these, as in all the larger Halticini, the 

 elytra are irregularly punctured, whilst in most of the small species 

 they are punctured in rows. The generic name is expressive of the 

 swollen claw joint. 



Hypolampsus, Clark, contains three X. A. si)ecies, the most common 

 of which is the H. xyilosa, of Illiger. Graptodera, Chevr., is composed 

 of a number of dark blue species, one of which is the Haltica (Grapto- 

 deraj chalybea, Illig., the destructive steel-blue flea-beetle of the grape 

 vine. Bisonyeha, Chev., is scarcely distinguishable from OEdionychis 

 except in the hind claw joint not being swollen. The species of the two 

 genera, or more properly sub-genera, often closely resemble each other 

 in size and color, but in Disonycha the style of coloration is most common 

 which IS exceptional in G^^dionychis, namely, yellow with black stripes ; 

 but the most common species is black with a yellow thorax, on which are 



