18 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.70 



9. OEDIONTCHIS THORAGICA (Fabricius) 



Fig. 7. 



Altica thoracica Fabricitjs, Syst. Ent. App., 1775, p. 821. — Olivier, Ent, vol. 



6, 1808, p. 678. 

 ChrysomeJa flava Gmklin, Syst., vol. 1, pt. 4, 1790, p. 1691. 

 Oedionychis thoracica Crotch, Proc. Acad. Philadelphia, vol. 25, 1873, p. 62. — 



Horn, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, vol. 16, 1889, p. 181. 



Broadly oblong-oval, slightly convex, feebly shining, yellow with 

 piceous-spotted pronotum and blue or purple elytra having narrow 

 yellow margin in basal half. Antennae barely half length of body, 

 moderately stout, third and fourth joints about equal, piceous, basal 

 joints usually lighter. Head pale yellow or yellowish brown, some- 

 times with dark spot in middle of occiput, usually coarsely punctate 

 except on occiput, occasionally entirely punctate; front flat with 

 tubercles and median groove indistinct; interocular space over half 

 width of head. Pronotum over twice as wide as long, nearly rec- 

 tangular, having narrow explanate margin with arcuate sides, nar- 

 I'owed anteriorly, deeply and densely punctate, usually seven-spotted, 

 the spots piceous, often partly or wholly uniting to form a zigzag 

 fascia. Scutellum rounded, shining, piceous. Elytra broadly oblong- 

 oval with almost parallel sides; humeri rounded and a slight trace 

 of basal depression within, punctations shallow, dense, moderately 

 coarse and sometimes confluent, finer toward apex ; color dark purple 

 or blue, with narrow yellow margin in basal half of elytra. Body 

 beneath yellow brown, finely pubescent, tibiae and tarsi darker 

 brown, epipleura pale. 



Length. — 6 to 8 mm. ; width 3 to 4 mm. 



Type locality. — ^America. 



Distribution. — New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Khode 

 Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Mary- 

 land, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, In- 

 diana, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Kansas. 



This, the first species of North American Oedionychis to be de- 

 scribed, is very uniform in its appearance and subject to few varia- 

 tions over its wide range. 



10. OEDIONYCHIS FIMBRIATA (Forster) 



Fig. 11 



Chrysomela fimhriata Forster, Nov. Spec. Ins., vol. 1, 1781, p. 25. 

 Attica suturella Say, Journ. Acad. Philadelphia, vol. 5, 1826, p. 299. 

 Oedionychis circumcincta Crotch, Proc. Acad. Philadelphia, vol, 25, 1873, p. 62. 

 Oedionychis fimhriata Horn, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., vol. 16, 1889, p. 184. 



Elongate-oval, slightly convex, dull red fading to yellow brown 

 with indefinite dark brown or piceous spots on pronotum sometimes 



