﻿MELOLONTHIDiE 
  OF 
  THE 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  235 
  

  

  . 
  1. 
  E. 
  q 
  u 
  e 
  r 
  c 
  u 
  s, 
  cylindrica, 
  testaceorufa, 
  sericeo-pruiuosa, 
  capite 
  thoraceque 
  saturatioribus, 
  illo 
  ibrtiter 
  

   haud 
  dense 
  punctato, 
  clypeo 
  anguste 
  marginato, 
  emarginato, 
  thorace 
  parce 
  punctato, 
  elytris 
  parcius 
  

   fortiter 
  punctatis 
  subeostatis, 
  pygidio 
  et 
  propygidio 
  subtilius 
  punctatis, 
  pectore 
  parum 
  pubescente. 
  

   Long. 
  -58 
  — 
  '63. 
  

  

  Melolontha 
  quercus 
  Knoch, 
  Neue 
  Beytr. 
  72, 
  tab. 
  1, 
  fig. 
  26. 
  

  

  Melolontha 
  fervida^ 
  Uliger, 
  ed. 
  Oliv. 
  2, 
  44, 
  (fide 
  Burmeister.) 
  

  

  Ancylonycha 
  quercus 
  Burm. 
  Lamell. 
  2, 
  2d, 
  340. 
  

  

  Middle 
  and 
  Southern 
  States. 
  The 
  club 
  of 
  the 
  antenna? 
  of 
  the 
  male 
  is 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  

   the 
  stem. 
  

  

  2. 
  E. 
  v 
  o 
  1 
  v 
  u 
  1 
  a 
  , 
  cylindrica, 
  rufo-testacea 
  nitida, 
  capite 
  fuscescente 
  minus 
  dense 
  punctato, 
  clypeo 
  emar- 
  

   ginato, 
  thorace 
  sat 
  dense, 
  elytris 
  fortius 
  punctatis 
  baud 
  costatis, 
  pygidio 
  parce 
  subtiliter 
  punctato, 
  

   pectore 
  vix 
  pubescente. 
  Long. 
  -5. 
  

   One 
  female, 
  New 
  York, 
  Mr. 
  Guex. 
  Much 
  smaller 
  than 
  the 
  preceding, 
  and 
  very 
  

  

  different 
  by 
  the 
  shining 
  and 
  more 
  punctured 
  body. 
  

  

  Lachnosterna 
  Hope. 
  

  

  This 
  genus 
  commonly 
  appears 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  Ancylonycha, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  Catalogue 
  

   of 
  the 
  Described 
  Coleoptera 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  is 
  called 
  Phyllophaga. 
  After 
  care- 
  

   fully 
  examining 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  each 
  of 
  these 
  names, 
  I 
  am 
  convinced 
  that 
  a 
  regard 
  for 
  

   the 
  purity 
  of 
  nomenclature 
  requires 
  that 
  they 
  should 
  be 
  rejected, 
  and 
  the 
  name 
  pro- 
  

   posed 
  by 
  Hope 
  in 
  1837, 
  (Coleopterist's 
  Manual, 
  1, 
  99) 
  should 
  be'restored. 
  

  

  The 
  name 
  Ancylonycha, 
  the 
  one 
  best 
  known, 
  is 
  used 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  by 
  Dejean, 
  

   in 
  the 
  Catalogue 
  of 
  his 
  Collection 
  printed 
  in 
  1833, 
  but 
  the 
  characters 
  were 
  first 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  by 
  Blanchard, 
  in 
  1845, 
  and 
  the 
  name 
  was 
  subsequently 
  adopted 
  by 
  Erichson, 
  

   Lacordaire, 
  Burmeister, 
  and 
  all 
  the 
  leading 
  entomologists 
  of 
  Europe. 
  

  

  Misled 
  by 
  a 
  note 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  edition 
  of 
  Harris' 
  Insects 
  of 
  Massachusetts 
  Injurious 
  to 
  

   Vegetation, 
  (p. 
  30,) 
  the 
  name 
  Phyllophaga 
  was 
  adopted 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Haldeman 
  and 
  my- 
  

   self 
  in 
  the 
  Melsheimer 
  Catalogue, 
  as 
  above 
  stated, 
  but 
  by 
  the 
  kindness 
  of 
  a 
  friend 
  I 
  

   have 
  recently 
  procured 
  a 
  transcript 
  from 
  the 
  Massachusetts 
  Agricultural 
  repository 
  

   cited 
  by 
  Harris, 
  and 
  find 
  that 
  the 
  name, 
  although 
  proposed 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  1826, 
  is 
  not 
  

   accompanied 
  by 
  any 
  description.* 
  

  

  'For 
  the 
  convenience 
  of 
  future 
  students, 
  I 
  reprint 
  the 
  passage 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  name 
  is 
  proposed. 
  Vide 
  Mass. 
  

   Agricult. 
  Repository, 
  vol. 
  x. 
  p. 
  6, 
  (note.) 
  

  

  ' 
  The 
  genus 
  Melolontha 
  as 
  constituted 
  by 
  Fabricius 
  contains 
  a 
  vast 
  number 
  of 
  species, 
  differing 
  greatly 
  in 
  ex- 
  

   ternal 
  appearance, 
  and 
  somewhat 
  in 
  modes 
  of 
  life. 
  Fabricius 
  describes 
  149 
  species, 
  and 
  Schonherr, 
  after 
  separat- 
  

   ing 
  those 
  which 
  constitute 
  the 
  modern 
  genera 
  Anisonyx, 
  Glaphyrus, 
  Amphicoma, 
  Rutela, 
  and 
  Hoplia, 
  enumerates 
  

   226 
  species 
  of 
  Melolontha, 
  to 
  which 
  additions 
  are 
  constantly 
  making 
  from 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  new 
  species. 
  Hence 
  

   the 
  genus 
  requires 
  further 
  subdivision. 
  The 
  bases 
  of 
  these 
  subgenera 
  have 
  been 
  pointed 
  out 
  by 
  Latreille, 
  Knoch 
  

   and 
  Schonherr, 
  and 
  some 
  have 
  already 
  been 
  established. 
  I 
  would 
  restrict 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  Melolontha 
  to 
  those 
  

   species 
  which 
  have 
  more 
  than 
  three 
  lamellae 
  to 
  the 
  club 
  of 
  the 
  antennae, 
  like 
  the 
  vulgaris 
  of 
  Europe, 
  and 
  of 
  which 
  

   we 
  have 
  an 
  indigenous 
  example 
  in 
  the 
  M. 
  decimlineata, 
  of 
  Say, 
  (M. 
  occidentalis 
  Herbst?). 
  Our 
  common 
  species 
  

   quercina, 
  hirsute, 
  Mriicula, 
  balia, 
  and 
  some 
  others 
  might 
  receive 
  the 
  generic 
  name, 
  Phyllophaga. 
  M. 
  vespertina 
  

  

  