158 NORTH AMERICAN MELANOPLI (ORTHOPTERA) 



tana. It may be the condition present in the mountains of cen- 

 tral northern and central Idaho, regions from which very little 

 is yet known as to the distribution of the brachypterous Mela- 

 nopli. 



Type. — S ; Taft, eastern slopes below Saint Regis Pass be- 

 tween the Coeur d'Alene and Bitter Root Mountains, Montana. 

 July 15, 1929. (E. R. Buckell). [Hebard Collection, Type no. 

 1318]. 



Indistinguishable from the other nearest species and races of the Indigens 

 Group except as noted above, the coloration of the caudal femora may 

 possibly also prove an aid though probably subject to decided local varia- 

 tion. Size and form medium. Vertex and frontal costa as in indigens 

 missoulae Hebard, 9 the former moderately broad with distinct lateral 

 carinae, its surface impressed weakly (to quite strongly in paratype) at 

 median ocellus. Pronotum with a fine medio-longitudinal carina on meta- 

 zona, which is absent on prozona. Prosternal spine moderately elongate, 

 rather slender, with apex well rounded. Tegmen ovate, separated by a 

 brief interval, length considerably less than that of pronotum. Apex of 

 abdomen moderately enlarged. Furcula represented by a pair of fairly 

 thick, tapering and moderately divergent projections which are proportion- 

 ately larger than in typical payettei, each over twice as long as width just 

 beyond the thickened areas from which they spring. Supra-anal plate 

 shield-shaped, lateral margins decidedly thickened and elevated in proxi- 

 mal third, dorsal surface longitudinally broadly concave laterad with median 

 sulcus strongly defined only proximad. Cercus with length slightly over 

 twice proximal width, curvature dorso-caudad almost obsolete; lateral 

 margins faintly convergent in proximal third, very faintly divergent in 

 median third and in distal third parallel, then rounding broadly into the 

 transverse, truncate distal margin; external surface feebly and irregularly 

 impressed submarginally distad. Penis as in payettei payettei with dorsal 

 lobes developed into two large erect transverse adjacent fleshy plates which 

 curve moderately cephalad distad, which plates are however narrower than 

 in that race, the acute apices of the ectoparameres visible meso-proximad 

 at their caudal bases. Apex of subgenital plate as in payettei payettei, 

 slightly but appreciably blunter than in the related species. 



Allotype. — $ ; same data as type. [Hebard Collection]. 



Very similar to male but larger and more robust. Vertex broader with 

 impression weaker. Tegmina as widely separated (varying to slightly more 

 widely separated in paratypes and in them slightly shorter to distinctly 

 more elongate). Prosternal spine shorter, broader (and in some paratypes 

 decidedly heavier). Ovipositor valves of medium length and moderately 



9 Described, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, lxii, p. 175, pi. 12, fig. 6, pi. 13, figs. 

 1 and 2, (1936). 



