﻿124 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  vol. 
  i03 
  

  

  scutellaris 
  entirely, 
  as 
  retaining 
  it 
  would 
  only 
  promote 
  confusion. 
  

   Among 
  the 
  specimens 
  from 
  Central 
  America 
  with 
  the 
  aedeagus 
  nar- 
  

   rowed 
  at 
  the 
  tip 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  wide 
  variation 
  in 
  the 
  acuteness 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  

   width 
  of 
  the 
  tip. 
  I 
  think 
  there 
  are 
  probably 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  species, 
  but 
  

   since 
  the 
  coloring 
  is 
  so 
  nearly 
  uniform 
  and 
  the 
  variation 
  in 
  the 
  

   aedeagi 
  only 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  degree, 
  I 
  hesitate 
  to 
  give 
  them 
  specific 
  names 
  

   and 
  am 
  calling 
  them 
  only 
  subspecies. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Bowditch 
  collection 
  at 
  the 
  Museum 
  of 
  Comparative 
  Zoology 
  

   (MCZ) 
  are 
  seven 
  specimens 
  from 
  South 
  America 
  (two 
  from 
  Venezuela 
  

   and 
  the 
  rest 
  from 
  Colombia) 
  that 
  are 
  uniformly 
  somewhat 
  larger 
  than 
  

   the 
  others 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  and, 
  unlike 
  the 
  North 
  and 
  Central 
  American 
  

   specimens, 
  are 
  dark 
  beneath, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  majority 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  Indian 
  

   specimens. 
  In 
  the 
  British 
  Museum 
  is 
  a 
  series 
  from 
  Trinidad, 
  col- 
  

   lected 
  by 
  G. 
  E. 
  Bryant, 
  also 
  dark 
  beneath 
  but 
  smaller, 
  paler, 
  and 
  with 
  

   a 
  more 
  rounded 
  tip 
  to 
  the 
  aedeagus. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  West 
  Indies 
  the 
  prevailing 
  color 
  of 
  the 
  legs 
  and 
  undersurface 
  

   of 
  the 
  specimens 
  is 
  entirely 
  dark, 
  but 
  in 
  one 
  species, 
  at 
  least, 
  the 
  pos- 
  

   terior 
  femora 
  are 
  partly 
  reddish, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  continental 
  species. 
  In 
  

   another 
  species 
  from 
  Hispaniola, 
  the 
  scutellum 
  is 
  not 
  black 
  but 
  

   reddish 
  lil^e 
  the 
  elytra, 
  the 
  only 
  one 
  so 
  colored 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  examined. 
  

   Jacoby 
  wrote 
  of 
  specimens 
  with 
  a 
  red 
  scuteUum 
  from 
  Juquila, 
  Mexico, 
  

   of 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  three. 
  One 
  specimen 
  from 
  Juquila 
  in 
  his 
  collection 
  

   is 
  a 
  yellow 
  Lactica 
  with 
  a 
  pronounced 
  basal 
  sulcus 
  on 
  the 
  prothorax, 
  

   typical 
  of 
  Lactica, 
  and 
  a 
  pale 
  scutellum. 
  This 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  the 
  one 
  to 
  

   which 
  he 
  referred. 
  These 
  slight 
  differences 
  in 
  coloration 
  of 
  the 
  speci- 
  

   mens 
  from 
  the 
  different 
  islands 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  Indies 
  are 
  accompanied 
  

   by 
  a 
  slightly 
  different 
  aedeagus. 
  Still, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  Central 
  

   American 
  specimens, 
  I 
  hesitate 
  to 
  give 
  them 
  specific 
  names 
  and 
  am 
  

   calling 
  them 
  only 
  subspecies. 
  Much 
  more 
  work 
  should 
  be 
  done 
  on 
  

   the 
  group 
  and 
  many 
  more 
  specimens 
  should 
  be 
  studied. 
  Here 
  I 
  

   attempt 
  to 
  assemble 
  the 
  species 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  catalogues 
  are 
  divided 
  

   among 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  genera 
  and 
  to 
  call 
  attention 
  to 
  their 
  points 
  of 
  

   difference. 
  

  

  The 
  group 
  is 
  closer 
  to 
  Disonycha 
  than 
  to 
  either 
  Altica 
  or 
  Lactica. 
  

   The 
  head, 
  while 
  similar 
  to 
  Disonycha, 
  has 
  the 
  circle 
  of 
  punctures 
  

   nearer 
  to 
  the 
  tubercles 
  and 
  the 
  carina 
  shorter 
  and 
  broader 
  than 
  in 
  

   most 
  species 
  of 
  Disonycha. 
  The 
  antennal 
  joints 
  are 
  similar 
  in 
  being 
  

   robust 
  and 
  rather 
  short, 
  but 
  differ 
  in 
  having 
  the 
  third 
  joint 
  a 
  little 
  

   longer 
  than 
  the 
  fourth, 
  instead 
  of 
  the 
  fourth 
  longer 
  than 
  the 
  third. 
  

   The 
  prothorax 
  is 
  much 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  Disonycha 
  except 
  that 
  below 
  the 
  

   apical 
  angle 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  tiny 
  V-shaped 
  notch 
  which 
  does 
  not 
  occur 
  in 
  

   Disonycha. 
  The 
  basal 
  depression 
  over 
  the 
  scuteUum, 
  often 
  found 
  in 
  

   Disonycha 
  too, 
  is 
  longer 
  and 
  more 
  pronounced 
  in 
  Strabala. 
  The 
  

   elytra 
  are 
  distinctive 
  in 
  being 
  more 
  convex 
  and 
  oval 
  than 
  in 
  Lactica, 
  

   Altica, 
  or 
  Disonycha. 
  

  

  