ART. 23 Ri^VISION OF THE BEETLE GENUS OEDIONYCHIS BLAKE 5 



several small sensory papillae and sensory pits, distal autennal joint minute, 

 bicuspidate and practically replaced by the large conical tactile supplementary 

 joint: mandible palmate vvith several distal teeth and a group of many long 

 setae mediauly on inner margin; maxillary mala (or "lobe") large, anteriorly 

 rounded, proximally carrying a longitudinal series of setae along inner margin. 

 <?istaUy several setae irregularly distributed and a two-jointed peg, probably 

 with sensory function ; gula absent ; submentum and mentum fused into a large 

 sub-trapezoidal region; labium small, short and covered with a bandlike 

 chitinization, constricted in the middle, labial palfus present, ligula indistinct 

 and very broad. 



The characters which particularly determine the generic position of the 

 present larva are the following: Epicranial halves with hind-corners triangu- 

 lar, short and obtuse, the 

 frons reaching to the occipi- 

 tal foramen, thus no epi- 

 cranial suture present : 

 ocellus lacking ; labrum 

 antero-medianly with cres- 

 cent-shaped, light, mem- 

 branous region, antero-lat- p^,, i._l^kva of Oedionychis gibbitarsa 8ay x 7 

 erally along margin with 



numerous small, straight setulae (in an undetermined species from Haiti: 

 with small, hookshaped setulae) ; number of terminal teeth of mandible five 

 and mandibular setae on inner margin arranged in a long series ; labial palpus 

 two-jointed. Prothoracic tergum with conical protuberances arranged in a 

 flat ring along the margin ; terga of mesothorax, metathorax, and the first 

 eight abdominal segments with conical protuberances arranged in an anterior 

 row of two belonging to the prescutal area, a posterior row of four belonging 

 to the scuto-scutellar area and in each alar area a large rounded protuberance 

 carrying from two to four setae (in the undetermined species from Haiti with 

 only one or two ; ninth abdominal segment posteriorly scalloped and seta- 

 bearing ; tenth abdominal segment soft, ventral, developed as a typical 

 pseudopod with the anal opening situated terminally between the lips of 

 the sucking disk. [A. G. Boving.] 



FOOD HABITS 



Very little is known of the habits of this genus. The adult beetles 

 appear to feed chiefly on the foliage of shrubs and trees. Only one 

 is knovpn to approach economic importance, Oe. sexmaxiulata, which 

 has been found in injurious numbers on ash {Fraxinus species). 

 Oe. quercata was so named because it was found on oak. Oe. 

 ohsidiatui has been found by W. A. Hoffman feeding on winterberry 

 {Ilex verticillata) and strawberry bush {Euonymus miericanus), 

 and I have observed Oe. circunulata feeding in spring on the tender 

 leaves of beech {Fagus grandifolia). Blatchley gives the Ericaceae 

 as the food plants of several species in Florida. 



KKY TO THE SPEiCIES 



Usually large (4—8 mm.), convex, margins usually very narrow or lacking; 

 antennae moderately stout, usually not half the length of body, front 

 vertical, eyes rather widely set, interocular space at least half width of 

 head, interocular depression tending to be indistinct Series A. 



