140 NEW SPECIES MELYRIDAE, CHRYSOMELIDAE AND TENEBRIONIDAE 



as the claws, the apical third or fourth of which is free. The above 

 characterization has been modified from Casey. 



Fall has called attention to the fact that the males of all species have 

 the protibiae mucronate at the tip. The spurs of the meso- and meta- 

 tibiae are variable, especially on the latter ; generally moderately short and 

 blunt on the former. A study of the spurs and mucros will constitute a 

 special line of investigation. A monographic treatment of the genus 

 should not be attempted until a greater amount of collecting has been 

 done and a larger series of a greater number of species been secured. 



From my own studies it is evident that for the proper description and 

 diagnosis of the species, attention must be paid to the structure of the 

 antennae, pronotum, pattern of maculation, fifth ventral abdominal seg- 

 ment, and the legs, especially the femora and the metatrochanters. 



I have assumed that the fundamental type of maculation in its discrete 

 form, consisted of four transverse fasciae of more or less cinereous 

 pubescence that divided the dark elytral field into five dark fasciae which 

 may be known as the basal, post-basal, median or submedian, subapical 

 and apical ; it is by the extension of the light fasciae that the dark areas are 

 broken up, or by the diffusion and coalescence of the dark fasciae or 

 maculae that the varied pattern of maculation is produced. This con- 

 ception of a definite fundamental pattern of maculation will help greatly 

 in the interpretation of the species from color markings. 



It is necessary to caution students who endeavor to identify the 

 different species, that it is absolutely essential for the proper recognition 

 and appreciation of antennal characters to view the several joints at 

 right angles to their broad surfaces, which according to my terminology 

 are the dorsal and ventral surfaces; viewing the antennae edgewise 

 antero-posteriorly determines the degree of compression. The care- 

 less viewing of the surface at a tangent will result in an erroneous con- 

 ception of the relative proportions of the parts. 



It is not sufficient to simply examine the specimens with a low-power 

 hand lens, but with as powerful a glass as can be obtained. The failure 

 to recognize the many undescribed species in the past has been due to 

 the inability to see the abundance of good specific characters. In the 

 present study the binocular and stereoscopic microscopes were used. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES. 



Listrus cephalicus, new species. Form oblong-oval, very moderately 

 convex. Color black, upper surface with a bluish or subaeneous metallic 

 lustre; antennae and legs nigro-piceous. 



Pubescence moderately short and sparse, recumbent, cinereous hairs 

 not abundant; brownish-black hairs arranged in an indefinite pattern in 

 which the maculae and fasciae observed in other species diffuse and 



