A STUDY OF THE GENUS MONOXIA — BLAKE 155 



MONOXIA SORDID A (LeConte) 



Plate 18, Figure 6 



Galleruca sordida LeConte, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 10, p. 88, 1858. 

 Monoxia sordida LeConte, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 17, p. 210, 

 1865.— Horn, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, vol. 20, p. 86, 1893. 



LeConte's Latin description of Galleruca sordida may be translated 

 thus: Testaceous, covered with dense, pale, sordid pubescence, the 

 head canaliculate, the prothorax short with subangulate sides, deeply- 

 canaliculate and depressed ("late excavato") on either side; the 

 elytra somewhat 3-sulcate, the second sulcus directed obliquely in- 

 ward forward, the third very short; the elytra marked at the middle 

 by a common shghtly impressed dark sutural spot, and by several 

 spots especially near the middle; the antennae less than half the length 

 of the body, a little thickened outwardly; the breast fuscous. Length 

 0.13 inch. The type locality is given in the original description as 

 Fort Yuma, Calif., and in a later pubhcation as the Colorado Desert, 

 Calif., and the number of specimens as two. In the earher pubhca- 

 tion sordida is said to be related to G. guttulata but to be more finely 

 punctured and still more densely pubescent, so that the punctures are 

 not visible. Later LeConte compared it with G. consputa, but here 

 also the elytra are said to be more finely punctured and the punctures 

 almost concealed by the dense golden pubescence. 



In the LeConte collection are two specimens, both with round gilt 

 labels indicating the locahty as California. The one bearing the 

 label sordida and the Museum of Comparative Zoology type No. 4387 

 has also the abbreviation "Col." meaning probably Colorado Desert, 

 It is the more heavily marked specimen. The second specimen is 

 pale yellow-brown with only a faintly marked median sutural spot. 

 The head in both has a pronounced median depression, more marked 

 than in the other species described by LeConte. The prothorax is 

 shorter and broader, tending to be more rectangular in shape than in 

 the other species, and more deeply and widely depressed on the sides. 

 The elytra are by far the most densely pubescent of any of those hitherto 

 described, the fine, recumbent pubescence entirely concealing the 

 punctation. The abdomen in both is so shriveled that it is impossible 

 for me to determine the sex. These two specimens without doubt are 

 the ones from which LeConte drew up his description. 



In LeConte's description of the species he placed emphasis on the 

 dense pubescence, and this character makes it perhaps the most readily 

 recognizable of the genus. The thick silken pubescence gives the 

 elytra the appearance of being plushy. M. sordida is also one of the 

 smallest species (2.6 to 3.8 mm.) and has a distinctive, short, broad 

 prothorax, t^vice as broad as long and sometimes more so, in contrast 

 with that of the other species in which the prothorax is either less 



