﻿190 
  PBOCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM. 
  vol.xx. 
  

  

  the 
  season 
  of 
  ovipositioii. 
  The 
  return 
  flights 
  in 
  the 
  "temporary 
  region'" 
  

   "begin 
  from 
  the 
  5th 
  to 
  the 
  10th 
  of 
  May 
  in 
  hititude 
  35^, 
  and 
  about 
  four 
  

   •days 
  later 
  with 
  eaeh 
  degree 
  farther 
  north. 
  Mr. 
  Eiley, 
  from 
  whose 
  

   accounts 
  these 
  statements 
  are 
  drawn, 
  gives 
  a 
  long 
  list 
  of 
  plants 
  and 
  

   trees 
  attacked 
  by 
  this 
  locust 
  and 
  its 
  i)references 
  among 
  them.' 
  

  

  7. 
  DEVASTATOR 
  SERIES. 
  

  

  This 
  group 
  is 
  composed 
  of 
  very 
  closely 
  related 
  species, 
  often 
  difficult 
  

   to 
  distinguish, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  male 
  prozona 
  is 
  quadrate 
  or 
  subquadrate, 
  

   and 
  the 
  immature 
  nmrkings 
  on 
  the 
  lateral 
  lobes 
  of 
  the 
  pronotum, 
  char- 
  

   acteristic 
  of 
  the 
  young 
  of 
  Melauoplus, 
  occasionally 
  persist 
  in 
  the 
  adult 
  

   and 
  especially 
  in 
  the 
  female; 
  the 
  interspace 
  between 
  the 
  mesosterual 
  

   lobes 
  of 
  the 
  male 
  is 
  always 
  longer 
  than 
  broad, 
  varying 
  from 
  a 
  little 
  more 
  

   than 
  half 
  as 
  long 
  again 
  to 
  a 
  little 
  more 
  than 
  twice 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  broad. 
  

   The 
  tegmina 
  are 
  always 
  fully 
  developed 
  and 
  generally 
  maculate: 
  the 
  

   hind 
  tibiae 
  are 
  variable 
  in 
  color, 
  often 
  Avithin 
  the 
  species, 
  and 
  have 
  

   from 
  nine 
  to 
  tliirteen 
  spines 
  in 
  the 
  outer 
  series. 
  

  

  The 
  supraanal 
  plate 
  is 
  similar 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  femur-rubrum 
  series, 
  

   but 
  less 
  constricted 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  and 
  shorter; 
  the 
  furcula 
  consists 
  of 
  

   a 
  pair 
  of 
  parallel 
  or 
  subparallel, 
  tapering, 
  tolerably 
  long, 
  generally 
  

   flattened, 
  acuminate 
  fingers; 
  the 
  cerci 
  are 
  very 
  simple, 
  rather 
  small, 
  

   not 
  reaching 
  the 
  tip 
  of 
  the 
  supraanal 
  ])late, 
  slender 
  and 
  subequal, 
  

   tapering 
  feebly 
  in 
  the 
  basal 
  half, 
  equal 
  beyond, 
  bluntly 
  rounded 
  at 
  tip, 
  

   and 
  a 
  little 
  incurved, 
  generally 
  slightly 
  sulcate 
  or 
  dimpled 
  apically 
  on 
  

   the 
  outer 
  side; 
  the 
  subgenital 
  plate 
  is 
  broad, 
  of 
  subequal 
  breadth, 
  but 
  

   slightly 
  broader 
  at 
  base 
  than 
  at 
  tip, 
  apically 
  elevated 
  and 
  the 
  apical 
  

   margin 
  well 
  rounded, 
  thickened, 
  and 
  weakly 
  notched. 
  

  

  The 
  insects 
  are 
  of 
  small 
  or 
  medium 
  size, 
  and 
  the 
  species, 
  eight 
  in 
  

   number, 
  are 
  separable 
  with 
  difficulty. 
  They 
  are 
  confined 
  almost 
  

   exclusively 
  to 
  California, 
  a 
  single 
  one 
  of 
  them 
  only 
  occurring 
  also 
  a 
  

   little 
  beyond 
  its 
  boundaries 
  in 
  the 
  neighboring 
  regions. 
  It 
  is 
  the 
  char- 
  

   acteristic 
  group 
  of 
  the 
  Pacific 
  coast. 
  

  

  28. 
  MELANOPLUS 
  DIMINUTUS, 
  new 
  species. 
  

   (Plate 
  XII, 
  fig. 
  9.) 
  

  

  Dark 
  brownish 
  fuscous 
  with 
  a 
  ferruginous 
  tinge. 
  Head 
  somewhat 
  

   piominent, 
  brownish 
  testaceous, 
  more 
  or 
  less, 
  generally 
  profusely, 
  dot- 
  

   ted 
  with 
  fuscous, 
  and 
  a 
  fuscous 
  band 
  behind 
  the 
  eyes; 
  vertex 
  rather 
  

   tumid, 
  somewhat 
  elevated 
  above 
  the 
  pronotum; 
  interspace 
  between 
  

   the 
  eyes 
  not 
  very 
  broad, 
  equal 
  to 
  (male) 
  or 
  slightly 
  broader 
  than 
  (female) 
  

   the 
  first 
  antennal 
  joint; 
  fastigium 
  steeply 
  declivent, 
  deeply 
  sulcate 
  

   throughout; 
  frontal 
  costa 
  fading 
  out 
  halfway 
  between 
  the 
  ocellus 
  and 
  

   clypeus, 
  distinctly 
  contracted 
  above, 
  equal 
  elsewhere 
  and 
  broader 
  than 
  

   (male) 
  or 
  as 
  broad 
  as 
  (female) 
  the 
  interspace 
  between 
  the 
  eyes, 
  scarcely 
  

   sulcate 
  but 
  with 
  prominent 
  margins, 
  seriately 
  punctate 
  at 
  the 
  sides; 
  

  

  1 
  First 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  Entomolo.i>ical 
  Commissiou, 
  pages 
  251-252. 
  

  

  