■62 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [February, 



than sumichrasti, there seems a reasonable probability xX^dXpruno- 

 tincta is an older type than either. 



At this point the little Mexican 5'. arachnoides becomes interest- 

 ing. Colored black and yellow, like suntichrasti, its markings 

 are nevertheless thrown back in the manner o{ prunotincta. 



Thus we get a series of types, from the oldest to the newest, 

 \xi prunotincta, arachnoides, suntichrasti, dugesii, heterochroa. This 

 series is Mexican in its distribution, but extends northward (in 

 heterochroa) to the region of the Organ Mountains in N. Mexico. 



The unique type of prunotincta is from Guanajuato, Mex., 

 found by Dr. A. Duges. 



Sphaerophthalma myrmicoides n. sp.— 9 about 4 mm. long, rufous, 

 sparsely hairy. Head subcircular, its angles rounded, a little wider than 

 thorax, strongly punctate; very sparingly pubescent with yellowish white 

 hairs, which do not mterfere with its general color, and are not visible 

 without a lens. Flagellum blackish; mandibles large, with blackish ends, 

 denticle blunt; the thorax, as seen from above, is shaped like the helmet 

 of the British grenadier — that is to say, it is rounded and somewhat swol- 

 len anteriorly, narrowing posteriorly, without any marked constriction, 

 ■and finally truncate at the rim of the rapidly descending metathorax; 

 seen from the side, the thorax presents a triangle, the base of which is its 

 inferior surface; in this triangle the anterior side is greater than the poste- 

 rior (metathoracic) side, which it meets at an angle only slightly greater 

 than a right angle. The surface of the thorax is strongly rugose-punctate; 

 and the pale hairs, most numerous and longest on the metathorax, are so 

 scanty as not to obscure the rufous color of the dermis. Legs yellowish, 

 with the femora and tibiae blackish, except at their ends. Abdomen 

 •elongate pyriform, shining rufous, distinctly punctate, sparsely covered 

 with pale hairs above and below; last three segments almost black. First 

 segment large, much broadened and sessile with the second, the suture 

 between them inconspicuous. 



Hab. — Columbus, Texas (H. F. Wickham). One specimen. 



In color and general build, it reminds one oi ferrugata, but is 

 smaller than the smallest of that size-varying species, besides 

 having the first segment of the abdomen different. S. pygmcea, 

 from Blake's description, might closely resemble it; but I have 

 regarded another specimen, from Las Cruces, N. Mex., as re- 

 ferable to /j/^w^a. This latter, which has the white fringe on 

 the abdominal segments very distinct (whereas it is extremely 

 inconspicuous in myrmicoides^, at least agrees better with pygmcea 

 than the present form, though it may quite possibly be distinct 



