July 1, 1865.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



THE CANTHARIDES OF THE ARGENTINE PROVINCES. 549 



their nests in the trunks of vines, and are called Mangangas (Xylocopa). 

 The beetle destroys the bee by eating up its food, and even the bee 

 itself in the grub state. It is the largest of all our native cantharides, 

 being above an inch long. It is of a yellow colour, with black spots on 

 the elytra. 



2. Tetraonyx, Latr. — This has the body more robust, shorter, and 

 proportionally broader, than the other genera of the same family ; it 

 has also the antennae less elongated and rather thicker; and the tarsi 

 short, with broad triangular articulations. I have collected three 

 Argentine species of this genus, one in Tucuman, two in Mendoza. 



3. Cantharis, Latr. (Lytta, Fdbr.) — Body longer or shorter, narrow ; 

 antennae long, slender ; feet elongated, with narrow slender articulations ; 

 these characters distinguish the true Cantharides from the allied genera. 

 It is the most numerous group of all, containing above 100 species. I 

 have collected in the Argentine Provinces, up to this date, eight species, 

 of which only three were previously known. I shall confine myself to 

 naming these three, which are : — 



Cantharis adspersa (Lytta adspersa, ' Klug, Nova Acad. C.L.C.Ac.,' 

 vol. xii., pi. 2, p. 434, t. 25). — It is this species which is known here as 

 the Bicho moro, and is so abundant in our gardens, where it does great 

 damage by eating seedling plants. I have found it also in the Banda 

 Oriental and in the province of Mendoza. 



Cantharis punctata (Lytta punctata, ' Germar, Spec. Insect Nov.,' 

 i., 175, 287). — Very like the Bicho moro; but the elytra are more 

 strongly marked with black dots, and the feet are of the same brownish 

 black as the rest of the body, I have found this in the Banda Oriental 

 and in Entre-Rios near the Parand. 



Cantharis vittigera, (Pyrota vittigera, BL, D'Orbigny, 'Voy. Entom.,' 

 200, t. 15, f. 7).— Collected on the Parana. 



The last of these three species is naked on the surface ; the other 

 two have a very fine brown pubescence, with naked points. The 

 remaining species are clothed in the same way, except one very small 

 one from the Banda Oriental, and another very large one from Cata- 

 marca, and Mendoza, and probably along the whole western side of the 

 Republic (La Rioja, San Juan) at the foot of the Cordillera. This species, 

 which I call Cantharis viridipennis, is one of the largest of all, being 

 nearly an inch long, of a black colour, with yellow feet, and metallic- 

 green elyta. It is probably, also, the most efficacious of the Argentine 

 species, being the only one that has a metallic lustre like the European 

 species. The apothecaries of Mendoza employ it with very good 

 effect. 



4. Nemognatha, Illig. — This genus is easily distinguished by the 

 prolongation of the lower mandible into a longish thread. I have one 

 species, hitherto unknown, of a yellow colour, with black antennae and 

 tibiae, from the Parana. I shall call it N. nigricornis. 



