26 MISC. PUBLICATION 341, U. 8S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
margin more distinctly sinuate, and the tibial denticulations stronger. 
The impression on abdominal sternite 1 of male is usually rather 
feeble. These sex differences are often not very obvious, and occa- 
sionally are reversed, as in the case of the eye, which, particularly 
in the candidus group, is sometimes more strongly convex in the 
female. 
The extent of variation exhibited by different individuals which 
appear to belong to the same species, especially in the elegans com- 
plex, 1s very oreat, and far exceeds anything of this nature observed 
among the parthenogenetic species previously treated. 
The species of Phacepholis form two rather indefinite groups, as 
shown in the key below. 
KEY TO GROUPS OF PHACEPHOLIS 
Dorsal scales feebly to distinctly metallic or iridescent, usually green, 
occasionally coppery (sometimes dull gray or brown in var. palli- 
dulus), those on elytra in general not, or only slightly, overlapping; 
elytral setae stout to slender, truncate apically, almost always either 
parallel sided or widened apically, biseriate or triseriate on each 
interval; humeri rounded; male with abdominal sternites 5 and 1 
subequal (fig. 3, H), sternite 2 with or without denticles; female 
with apical margin of abdominal sternite 5 usually narrowly sub- 
truncate, occasionally faintly emarginate (fig. 8, D). 
elegans group (p. 27). 
Seales dull, gray to brown, those on elytra usually plainly overlapping at 
least in places; elytral setae fine, tapering apically (except in can- 
didus, in which they are blunt and, on even intervals, uniseriate) ; 
humeri often slightly angulate (fig. 5, H to H); male with ab- 
dominal sternite 5 longer than 1 (fig. 3, B) and sternite 2 always 
denticulate; apical margin of sternite 5 of female with a usually dis- 
tinct, though shallow, emargination limited each side by a minute 
CUSD) GRE AS IAL) ee oe ads Mia eel OR: NRA candidus group (p. 33). 
In the female the shape of the apical margin of abdominal sternite 
5 1s sometimes difficult to perceive except at a favorable angle and 
until the pubescence that fringes the margin has been partially 
removed. 
In addition to the characters mentioned, the elegans group has 
the general vestiture less dense than in the candidus group, the 
individual seales on elytra often much smaller and appearing convex, 
the prothorax usually less produced forward above and with its 
basal angle in side view averaging a little more prominent, the 
scutellum small to obsolescent and bare or setose, the abdominal 
sculpture, especially on sternites 3 to 5, rougher, the denticles on 
male sternite 2, when present, smaller, and the denticulations on 
hind tibia minute to absent in both sexes. 
The elegans group consists of a complex of forms found chiefly 
between the ninety-fifth and one-hundredth meridians from South 
Dakota to extreme southern Texas. In the material studied the 
following four fairly distinct units are recognizable: 1, elegans 
proper, from South Dakota to Victoria, Tex., with westward exten- 
sion indicated by a few specimens from Colorado and Nevada, and 
one from California, the last locality possibly erroneous; 2, viridis, 
from San Antonio; 3. eximius from San Diego, and 4, ’ pallidulus, 
from Victoria to Brownsville, all in southern Texas. Specimens 
from north of Texas, as weil as part of the Texan specimens, belong 
to elegans proper, which, although extremely variable, is clearly 
