Briefly characterized as follows: Head with the eyes as wide as 

 the thorax. Vertex subquadrate, straight in front or very bluntly 

 curved, at times with shallow depressions. Frons vertically placed, 

 nearly quadrate, longer than broad or as wide as long, tricarinate, the 

 lateral carinae at times very indistinct, curved. Pronotum with a 

 median carina and two impressed spots, furnished with more or less 

 distinct granules. Scutellum tricarinate. Elytra more or less strong- 

 ly arched, parchment-like, uneven on account of the more or less 

 thickly branched veins; the inner ulnar vein simple. Wings lacking. 

 Hind tibiae with two spines. 



Logotype of the genus: Hysteropterum immaculatum (H. S.) 



Hysteropterum punctiferum WALKER 

 (1851 List Homop., ii, p. 376) 



Recorded from Fla., Colo, and Texas. 



Body short, broad, tawny or yellowish-brown spotted with brown. 

 Vertex more than twice as wide as long, depressed on the disc, an- 

 terior and posterior margins nearly straight, subquadrate, two small 

 black flecks at the center of the anterior margin and two semicircular 

 flecks posteriorly. Frons large, vertical, as long as wide, somewhat 

 quadrate and almost flat, tricarinate, the median carina more promi- 

 nent than the lateral ones which are rounded inwards to clypeus; the 

 genae separated from the central disc by two curved ridges; the 

 clypeus carinated in the middle, always transversely marked with 

 brown. Antennae black. Pronotum about as long as the vertex, 

 slightly impressed on the disc and furnished with flat fuscous gran- 

 ules. Scutellum with a median groove, to each side of this is a dark 

 spot. Elytra broad, convex above, a little longer than broad; vena- 

 tion distinct, narrowly bordered with fuscous, the veins united with 

 each other by a number of cross-veins, forming large subquadrate 

 cells which are thickly filled with small brown dots; usually adorned 

 near the base with fuscous areas, although these may be almost en- 

 tirely lacking. Wings lacking. Abdomen brownish-yellow, |with 

 blackish areas on the disc and small black dots on the sides. Legs 

 brown, marked with fuscous, especially the femora, with broad black 

 rings before the tip, slightly grooved; the hind tibiae with two spines. 



Length to tip of elytra 4-5.50 mm.; width 2.50-3 mm. 



Van Duzee writes of the species the following, "Swept 

 from the sparse vegetation of the interminable pine bar- 

 rens everywhere I collected in Florida. At Crescent City 

 they were rare and here and at Sanf ord where they occurred 

 in numbers they were mostly of the unicolorous form de- 

 scribed both by Walker and Uhler. Farther south they 

 became abundant and were marked with brown and fus- 

 cous. In fully colored examples from Estero these markings 

 remind one much of those seen in the genus Gelastocoris." 



103 



