266 



XXV. Notes on the Species of Pasimachus 



BY JOIIX L. LE COXTE, M. D. 

 [Bead before this Society, January 16, 187-4.] 



AiioxG the crude results of my earlier studies in Entomology 

 was a monograph of the species of Pasimachus, inhabiting the 

 United States, published, with outline figures, in the 4th volume of 

 the Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History in New York, pp. 

 141-151, plates 7 and 8. 



Being then inexperienced in the recognition of species, I Avas, like 

 most young naturalists, led to exaggerate the value of characters 

 which were either individual or unimportant, and thus to multiply 

 the supposed distinct forms beyond what larger series of specimens 

 have shown to be tenable. I have endeavored to make the correc- 

 tions required by more careful study as soon as circumstances per- 

 mitted, but the remarks have become scattered in various papers, 

 so as not to be very accessible. By the kindness of Mr. P. S. 

 Sprague, of Boston, I have recently received a new species, very 

 remarkable by its size, and wishing to make known so important an 

 addition to our fauna, I avail myself of the opportunity to append 

 to its description notes and synonyms of the other species. 



A very interesting series of comparative notes on the species 

 known to him is contained in the Premices Entomologiques of my 

 learned friend Mr. Putzeys, cited in the following pages. With the 

 exception of those derived from the antennae and the labrum, they 

 appear to me of somewhat difficult verification, and I therefore, in 

 the presence of stronger characters, have not used those derived 

 from the mentum and lingula. The form of the labrum is subject 

 to some variation, according as the specimen is young, or old and 

 worn; in the latter case, the middle lobe becomes less prominent, 

 and wider, though rarely to such an extent as to prove deceptive ; 

 the same may be observed regarding the teeth of the front tibiae. 



BUL. BrF. SOC. NAT. SCI. JANUARY, 1874. 



