197 

 for record-keeping purposes. They have no nomenclatural 



status . 



The type of Ischyrus puncticollis Gorham is a malformed 

 specimen. The name "puncticollis" refers to the 

 indentations on the pronotum mentioned by Gorham in the 

 original description. Specimens from nearby localities in 

 Texas are externally identical to I. puncticollis, except 

 for these malformations. A genitalic study of Gorham' s type 

 proved my suspicions to be correct. Ischyrus puncticollis 

 Gorham is here synonymized under I. q. quadripunctatus 

 (Olivier) . 



Gemminger & Harold (1876:3690) indicated that "Ischyrus 

 quadripunctatus var. Crotch (1873b: 144)" is a synonym of I. 

 graphicus Lacordaire (1842:125-126). They seemed to have 

 misinterpreted Crotch, as no such variety was proposed. 

 Crotch stated that I. graphicus from Nicaragua and "the 

 Mexican exponents of this species, appear to be a southern 

 form of I. quadripunctatus with the head more or less 

 rufous . " 



Ischyrus quadripunctatus var. alabamae Schaeffer 

 (1931:175) has the venter mostly red. Boyle (1954) stated 

 "it is an aberrant specimen of the nominal form" which 

 varies only in the ventral coloration. Boyle's statement 

 implies that he studied the type, or type specimens. 



Mader (1938:19) realized that Schaeffer' s var. alabamae 

 was actually the nominal pattern of I. quadripunctatus with 

 the basal elytral band entire. He proposed the name "var. 



