230 . On Some New 



are remarkably homogeneous among themselves in minor details 

 of structure. 



In order to render this mass of material of some avail it is 

 necessary at first to assign names and positions to the undescribed 

 forms, and it is considered preferable to accompany these names 

 with full and detailed descriptions, rather than to promote sub- 

 sequent confusion by simply naming them in the cabinet. It 

 would certainly be better to give a detailed monograph of every 

 genus receiving the new additions, but in the present case the 

 labor involved would be vastly beyond the power of any single 

 man, and for other reasons it is practically impossible to do so. 

 It is thought, however, by carefully giving references to well- 

 known and allied species that there can be but little confusion 

 introduced. 



In systematizing and publishing these novelties special groups 

 will in general be taken up in their entirety, and I have chosen 

 a retrograde movement from Rhynchophora to Carabidse in pre- 

 ference to the reverse, because there are several genera of Carabi- 

 dse which will require monographic revision before any new ma- 

 terial can be intelligently incorporated. 



The portion dealt with in the present memoir is that compris- 

 ing the families Rhynchitidae and Otiorhynchidse.^ In the latter 

 the definition of Dr. Le Conte is adopted as being by far the 

 most rational which has ever been proposed. The characteriza- 

 tion of the Otiorhynchidae by the deciduous mandibular piece, 

 converts that which was before a complex of the most discourag- 

 ing and ambiguous nature, into what is still confessedly a com- 

 plex, but as clear and plain as sunlight by comparison — at least 

 as far as the North American species are concerned. 



Of the fifty-five species of Otiorhynchidae collected in various 

 regions between Texas and the Pacific coast, but eighteen can be 

 identified with any which have been previously described, the 

 remaining thirty-seven being thus far unrepresented in our 

 catalogues. Considering the vast area and varied conditions of 

 climate, and the fact that the region under consideration is one 

 of the foci of Otiorhynchide life in North America, this propor- 

 tion is not surprising. The European fauna contains at present 



^ In an appendix subsequently added, the subfamily Sitoninae is also 

 included . 



