194 CURCULKXNIDJE. 



[L,eConte. 



the suture is also tufted with longer hairs. The antennae are slender, the 

 first joint of the funiculus larger and stouter ; second slender, not so long, 

 3-7 short, but not increasing in thickness, club elongate, oval, pointed, 

 articulated. Thighs moderately clavate, armed with an acute tooth ; front 

 tibiae with a terminal hook, middle and hind tibiae truncate ; claws sepa- 

 rate, with an acute tooth, shorter than in Anthonomus and not curved 

 inwards. 



1. C. scutellaris. Anthonomus scut. Lee., Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Philada. 

 1858, 79; Anlh. ? prunicida Walsh, Prairie Farmer, June 13, 1863; Proc. 

 Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist, ix, 309. 



Illinois, Texas, Georgia. 



The larva lives upon the kernel of the plum, like Conotrachelus nen- 

 uphar. Mr. Riley informs me that he has reason to believe that the egg is 

 not pushed by the beak of the female deep into the fruit, as is the case 

 with that species, but is laid on the surface, whence the larva, when first 

 hatched burrows to the seeds. 



Mr. Walsh very properly suspected that this insect should be separated 

 as a distinct genus. I regret to have led him into error by not recognizing 

 the species as identical with my previously described A. scutellaris, which 

 was founded upon a much smaller specimen from a far distant locality. 



ANTHONOMUS Germ. 



The species of this genus are quite numerous, and although agreeing in 

 the more important characters, differ in such manner as to indicate the pro- 

 priety of future subdivision. For the purpose of making these subdivis- 

 ions natural, a profound study of the exotic species will be necessary. I 

 can at present merely mention some of the variant structures which I have 

 observed. 



The prosternum varies in length, being shortest in A. elegans, and long- 

 est in A. rufipes and elongatus. The fifth ventral segment is not longer 

 than the fourth in most species, but in A. elongatus and some others of 

 Division B it is quite distinctly longer and flatter, as in Erirhinini, and 

 in these species the pygidium is not exposed. The ventral sutures are 

 straight in most species, but the third and fourth are slightly curved in A t 

 conjunctus, which thus shows a tendency towards Tychius. The claws are 

 usually cleft, or armed with a long slender tooth; in certain species, as will 

 be seen in the following table, the tooth is broad, or even so obtuse as to 

 be indistinct. The funicle of the antennae is usually 7-jointed, but in the 

 species of Division C only six joints are observed. 



These characters seem to be similar to those used by Lacordaire for sep- 

 arating the genera of Anthonomini, (Gen. Col. VI, 577), but on referring 

 to the detailed descriptions, it will be found that in other respects the spe- 

 cies in our fauna disagree. I, therefore, deem it more expedient to place 

 them all in Anthonomus. The following table will enable most of them to 

 be easily recognized. 



