SCARAB BEETLE GENUS PSAMMODIUS — CARTWRIGHT 429 



Anterior femur deeply margined in front. Middle and hind femurs 

 with deep, nearly complete posterior marginal line, vdth the usual 

 posterior, curving row of three or four setigerous punctures from 

 middle to knee. Posterior femur less than one-fifth wider than middle 

 femur. Posterior tibia approximately three times as long as wide at 

 apex, spurs narrow, long spur equal in length to first two tarsal joints 

 combined. First tarsal joint elongate-triangular, equal in length to 

 the following two joints combined. Length 2.8 to 3.4 mm., width 

 1.2 to 1.5 mm. 



Type: Presumably destroyed. 



Type locality: Indiana, probably New Harmony in Posey County. 



Specimens examined: 206. 



Distribution: New York: "L. I." (Casey collection). District 

 of Columbia. Maryland. Virginia: Fort Monroe. North Carolina: 

 Moore County, West End, Pinebluff. South Carolina: ClemsoD, 

 Ridge Spring, Marion. Georgia: Peach County, Barnesville. New 

 Mexico: Albuquerque. Colorado: Monon (?). Wyoming: Fort La- 

 ramie. South Dakota: Brookings. Nebraska: West Point. Kansas: 

 Topeka. Iowa. 



Season: January 13 to June. 



Remarks: The band of fine to moderate pimctures across the 

 occiput is often covered by the pronotum in specimens having the 

 head tilted upward. 



Psammodius interruptus Say is an early spring species in South 

 Carolina, the greater number of specimens being collected in March 

 and early April. I personally collected 153 specimens, three-fom'ths 

 of the total examined, crawling on or flying over flood-deposited sand 

 along the Seneca River at Clemson, S. C. Its distribution apparently 

 covers the greater part of the United States, from New York south and 

 west to South Dakota and Wyoming. Since no specimens were avail- 

 able from the type locahty, presumably New Harmony, Ind., it is 

 preferable to defer the selection of a neotype until such specimens are 

 obtained. 



The group of species closely allied to interruptus Say is taxonomically 

 perhaps the most difficult in the genus Psammodius. Superficially 

 they appear almost identical and, in fact, a larger number of specimens 

 for study might prove questionable the separation of one or two of 

 them as distinct species. The material at hand, however, is separable 

 into six species as shown in the key to species. 



Psammodius werneri, new species 



Holotype oblong oval, moderately shining, piceous. Antennae 

 rufotestaceous. Head convex, closely, moderately verrucose, occiput 

 smooth. Clypeus moderately deeply, triangularly emarginate, the 

 limiting angles each side rounded, sides weakly arcuate, sides and 



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