»o.n24. iiHrisiox OF riiE MELASorLi—scriiDEii. 317 



punctate with fuscous, esj>cci}illy in tlic discoidnl urea where the ])uncta 

 are aiiffued with lutesj-eiit marks: wings moderately auiph*, hyaline, 

 the v^eins ])ale fuscous, becimiing darker anteriorly an<l apically. Fore 

 and niddle femora consi<leral)ly tumi<l in the male; hind femora sNnit, 

 dull testaceous, very obliquely bifa:^ i.ite with blackish fuscous, except 

 beneath, wliich is tiavous; hind tibiae feebly val<;ate, brijjfht red. the 

 short black sj)ines with jiallid bases, nine to eleven in number in the outer 

 series. Hxtremity of male abdomen s.miewhat clavate, a li< t'e recurved, 

 the supraanal plate subtriang^ular with acutanjjnlate apex, nearly plane 

 surface, apically stei)])ed by a distinct transverse rid^ejust be.Nond the 

 middle, the nu'dian sulcus broad and shallow in the basal portion, 

 narrow beyond; furcula consistinjj of a pair of sli<rht, distrait, parallel 

 denticulations lyinfj* outside the rid<;es boundin*^ the median sulcus of 

 the supraanal plate; cenri and infracercal plates entirely as in M. on- 

 sperxuH ; subj^enital phvte rather narrow, e(pial, not at all tiaring, the 

 apical nuirgin not at all elevated, well rounded, entire. 



Length of body, male, 21 mm., fennde, 22..! mm.: antennae, female, 

 10 mm.; tegmina, male, 1(>.2."» mm., female, 17.25 mm.; hind femora, 

 male, 11 nun., female, 12.."» mm 



Two males, 2 females. Dakota (U. S.N. M. — Hiley collection); Gordon, 

 Sheridan County, Nebraska, L. P.runer (same). 



This species is closely related to the preceding, from which it differs 

 in the narrowness of the subgenital plate of the male an<l the 

 difference in the interspace between the mesosterual lobes. Its general 

 resemblance is very close. 



23. TEXANl S SERIES. 



In this not altogether homogeneous group, the proz«)na of the male 

 is longitudinal, generally distinctly longitudinal, and tiie intersi)ace 

 betwee. the mesosterual lobes in the same sex is almost, or fully, or 

 even more than, twice as long as broad. With the exception of the first 

 species, the hind margin of the pronotum is obtusangulate. The 

 antennae are variable. The tegmina are also variable though always 

 abbreviate, and in most of the species are longer than the pronotum 

 and overlap, but in the first tliey are shorter and distant. The hind 

 tibiae are red or glaucous and have nine to thirteen spines in the outer 

 series. 



The supraanal plate is triangular with more or less elevated margins 

 and distinct median sulcus; the furcula is reduced to small or even 

 minute denticulations; the cerci are large, constricted in the mi(l<lle 

 and again expanded, more or less incurved and sometimes again 

 apically bent in the original direction; the subgenital plate is broad, 

 generally produced or elevated apically, the margin entire. 



There are five si)ecies, all occurring west of the Mississippi, except 

 one which is found in the upper Mississippi region; of the others two 

 occur in Texas (and one of them in Kansas also), a fourth east of the 



