﻿244 LE CONTE— SYNOPSIS OF THE 



rounded, serrate and fimbriate, dorsal line smooth but not very distinct. Scutellum 

 sparsely punctured. Elytra strongly rugous and punctured, with a faint trace of the 

 inner dorsal costa, but no outer ones : margin fringed with long erect hairs. Pygidium 

 convex, sparsely strongly punctured. Breast densely clothed with long yellow hair. 



The male has the club of the antennas longer than the stem, the abdomen longi- 

 tudinally impressed, the penultimate segment with a faint transverse elevation, and 

 the last segment with a large fovea bounded posteriorly each side by an acute edge 

 extending to the apex : inner spur of the posterior tibiae very long, slightly sigmoid, 

 dilated into an oblique narrow disc at tip. 



As frequently happens, when isolated species are described before the group to 

 which they belong has been studied, the original description given by me makes no 

 mention of the most remarkable characters of this species. 



Geoup VIII. 

 This is the central group of the genus, and contains a large number of species, 

 which seem in some cases to be so closely allied as to be undistinguishable, thus pre- 

 senting the phenomenon of races, of which the examples are already so numerous in 

 this as in every other department of Natural History. The body is glabrous above, 

 and sometimes pruinose ; the head is small, or moderate in size ; the clypeus is more 

 or less emarginate, though inL. serricornisitis entirely rounded. The thorax is 

 usually gradually broader from tip to base, but sometimes its widest part is at the 

 middle. The fifth ventral segment is broadly emarginate, and in the male is 

 variously impressed, while the last of the same sex is widely but not deeply exca- 

 vated. The ungues are variable in form, even between closely allied species. The 

 inner spur of the posterior tibiae of the male is straight and connate, while in the 

 female both are free, and not very unequal. 



According to the form of the clypeus and the sides of the thorax, the following 

 division may facilitate the determination of the species : 



* Thorax not or hardly serrate, clypeus strongly margined . - . . Sp. 16 — 21. 

 ** Thorax not or hardly serrate, clypeus finely margined, but more deeply emarginate Sp. 22 — 30. 

 Thorax angulated on the sides, strongly serrate, clypeus as in * * . . Sp. 31 — 34. 



16. L. f u s ca , fusco-picea, vel brunnea, subtus ssepe ferruginea, capite haud confluenter punctato, glaber- 

 rimo clypeo parum emarginato, thorace postice latiore, lateribus plus minusvc rotundatis, subtilius 

 punctato, elytris plus minusve punctatis efc rugosis, subcostatis, pygidio parce punctato, pectore flavo- 

 villoso, antennis pedibusque ferrugineis. Long. -78 — -97. 

 Meloloniha fusca Frohlich, Naturf. 26, 99 (1792 ;) 29, 113, tab. 3, fig. 3. 

 Melolonilia quercina Knoch, Neue Beytr. 74, tab. 1, fig. 27, (1801.) 

 Meloloniha fervens Gyll. Schonh. Syn. Ins. App. 74. 

 Meloloniha fervida% Oliv. Ins. 5, 24, tab. 9, fig. 109. 

 Rhizotrogus fervens Kirby, Fauna Bor. Am. 132. 

 Lachnosterna quercina Lee. Agass. Lake Sup. 226. 

 Ancylonycha quercina Burtn. Lamell. 2, 2d, 319. 



