NEARCTIC BEETLES MELIGETHES — EASTON 91 



F. W. Morand; College, 2, in USNM, June, J. C. Chamberlain; 

 Anchorage, 1, in USNM, May, N. Hoffman. 



United States: California: Alta Meadow, Sequoia National Park, 

 9,000 ft., &, July 19, 1907, J. C. Bradley. Colorado: Argentine 

 Road, 4 99, in USNM, Wickham. Utah: 9, "Cornell U. Lot 909 

 Sub Schaeffer coll."; Park City, d^, in USNM, Hubbard and Schwartz. 



Little variation is manifest in the material available except in the 

 teeth on the outer edge of the anterior tibiae. These vary appreciably 

 in number, size, and degree of sharpness, while an irregularity in 

 distribution and size of individual teeth appears to be a constant 

 feature. Some of the specimens are slightly duller than others de- 

 pending on the degree of reticulation, which at times is almost absent. 

 In some the sides of the pronotum arc more rounded than in the type, 

 while, in the examples from the United States, pallor of legs and 

 antennae, apparently due to immaturity, is a prominent feature. 



Though undoubtedly closely related to and superficially resembling 

 M. seminulum LeConte, the new species is readily distinguished by 

 its dark legs, the microscopical reticulation of its upper surface, the 

 absence of any male secondary sexual character on the last ventral 

 segment of the abdomen, and by its entirely different aedeagus. 

 The ovipositor, too, by its longer styli and absence of apical pig- 

 mentation, constitutes a sure means of distinction. Its much smaller 

 teeth on the anterior tibiae and its reticulate upper surface at once 

 distinguish it from M. saevus LeConte; and its simple claws separate 

 it from M pinguis Horn. In addition to its other characters, its 

 color should prevent confusion with the other Nearctic species. 

 Among European species, apart from M. nigrescens Stephens (= 

 picipes Sturm) — regarding which the reader is referred to the subse- 

 quent section dealing with M. seminulum LeConte — it most nearly 

 approaches M. brachialis Erichson, but the smooth surface, wider 

 and more robust tibiae, and divergent course of the caudal marginal 

 line of the hind coxal cavity of the European species serve readily to 

 distinguish it. 



The paratypes to which name tabs were attached had been deter- 

 mined as either M. saevus LeConte or M. seminulum LeConte. 



Meligeth.es atratus Olivier 



Figure 7Q,g-k 



This species is added to the Nearctic list on the evidence of a 

 single specimen in the British Museum collection bearing the data: 

 "Metlakatla, Brit. Columbia. J. H. Keen 1915—355." This 

 specimen agrees externally in all respects with Palaearctic examples, 

 and on dissection it proved to be a female whose ovipositor is identical 

 with that found in European specimens. 



