Coleopterological Notices^, VII. 295 



broader posteriorly and with a strong violet reflection. The de- 

 scription is taken from the male ; the single female in my cabinet 

 is larger and stouter with the elytra broader and less dilated be- 

 hind, but not relatively shorter than in the male. Three speci- 

 mens. 



CICINDELA Linn. 



While it must be admitted that the numerous species of Cicin- 

 dela present problems of great interest and diflflculty to the tax- 

 onomist, it must be stated in the interests of fact, that the treat- 

 ment applied thus far to our representatives of the genus has been 

 of a very unsatisfactory kind. The paper of Mr. Schaupp (Bull. 

 Bk. Ent. Soc), which is that upon which our present synonj'my 

 rests, is superficial and betrays besides a certain lack of scien- 

 tific acumen at times, so that a more complete revision is almost a 

 matter of necessity. The fact that a considerable number of de- 

 scribed forms are undoubted synonyms is not suflScient reason 

 for the indiscriminate and unweighted lumping there applied. 



Ground color is generally unimportant, but at times becomes of 

 value. Markings are variable as a rule, but are in many cases sur- 

 prisingly constant, and much careful study should consequently 

 be exercised in determining the relationships of allied forms, since 

 more or less special criteria must be applied in different parts of 

 the series. Sculpture is important as a rule, but has been unac- 

 eountabl}^ disregarded by Mr. Schaupp, as, for example, in the 

 cases of abdominalis and scabrosa, which are distinct species and 

 not varietal forms of one. General form of the body, though 

 usually a useful specific character in this genus, has been fre- 

 quently neglected, as, for instance, in combining ohsoleta and vul- 

 turina, and form and sculpture have both been overlooked in 

 combining sexgutata and patruela, which are abundantly distinct 

 species. 



In scutellaris both ground color and degree of marking are 

 very variable, and it is virtually certain that the varieties of this 

 species now recognized are truly color variations, which ought not 

 to have received distinctive names, especially since similar varia- 

 tions in ground color may appear in a large number of species. 

 Very different, however, is the case of purpurea and its allies, 

 where most of the forms united as varieties should be regarded 

 -ather as closely related species ; two of them indeed — decemno- 



