v„ nu HtJlSins (tF Till: MHI.ASnl'l.lst IIHtKIL 1(19 



w, sPkKTiJs si:iMi:s. 



Tills ;;iou|» i.s a very hoino^^riicoiiH one and coinpriseH tlit^ M|M'<'i(VH of 

 Mi'.ajujplus whirli ure t'siKH-ially drstrnctivi' to \«'K«*tatioii hy their 

 imiiM'iise ihiimIk'is iiiid iiioro or l»»ss «»x1<'Im1«'iI llij^lits, snrli (U'stnictive- 

 iieAs l>eiii<i: almost coiitiiicil to its inciiilxMs. Tlu' pioiiotuiii ot' the iiialu 

 is transverse or (piadrate or feeldy h»nj;ii iinal. an<I the interHpa<*e 

 hetwjMMi tlie niesostenial h>bes in the same sex varies from a little 

 lon;^er than broad to fully twire as lony: as broad, thr mesostornum ia 

 front of the lobes rem rally elevate«l to form a very low and blunt 

 eonieai tubercle or boss. Tlu' tejjmina an* always fully tleveloped, 

 usually much surpassir.;; the tips of the hind femora ithou;,^h in one 

 efise not nearly reaehin*; them), more or less maeulate (<uily immaculate 

 by individual exception ), and the hin<l tii)iae are variably colored, but 

 either red or ^reen (very rarely blue or yellow), and have nine to 

 tlilrtecn Hi>ine8 in the <»uter series. 



The supraanal plate of the nude is subtrianpular, rather I«mi<;, with 

 strai;:ht or sinuous lateral nuir^ins; the fuicula consists of a pair of 

 slender, taperinj;, i)arallel or diver«;ent, jjencrally feebly <lepr«'ssed 

 liiil^ers. generally extending; o\er the basal fourth of the supraanal 

 plate; the ceni are rather broad and nearly strai^dit and nearly tiat 

 liunellae, the apical half narrower than the basal, generally through 

 oblit|ue excision of the lower mar;;in, and usually bent upward a little, 

 rounded or subtrmu-ate at tip and from (Uie and a half to three times 

 as long as broa<l; the subjienital i)late is haustratc, about as broad as 

 loii^, more or less elevated apieally and has the apical margin nu^sially 

 notched. 



The s])ecies, seven in number, are of a medium or nuMleratcly lar<je 

 8ize and rauji^e widely (especially .1/. athntix, the raujic of which is 

 almost or quite equal to that of the <;Toup), occurring:: in every part of 

 tile United States, from Atlantic to l*acitic,exceptin<»inost of California 

 and the southernmost of the Atlantic States; niendiers of the group 

 occur also, but apparently in scanty numbers, as far beyond our southern 

 borders as Central Mexico, aiul on the north, in full abundance, in 

 Canada from ocean to ocean; but this <;roup ai>pareiitly does not 

 extend so far north as the femur rubrum series, for it is not known 

 from Xewfoundland or Labradcu-, nor about Hudson Bay, thoujjh iu 

 the west it reaches the Arctic Circle, two of the species occurring in 

 Alaska. 



21. MELANOPLUS ALASKANUS, new species. 

 (Pliite XII. fig. 1.) 



Slightly above the medium size, ferrugiueo-fuscous with testaceous 

 markings. Head pale castaneous, heavily marked above, at least in 

 the male, with black, especially along the margins of the eyes and in a* 

 median stripe, besides a broad postocular band; vertex gently tumid, 



