SCUTELLEROIDEA OF IOWA 25 
crease in numbers has undoubtedly been due to local conditions 
and in no locality has noteworthy damage been observed. 
Thyreocoris mtiduloides (Wolff) (Puate I, Figure 2) 
1802. Cimex nitiduloides Wolff Ic. Cim., III, 98, fig. 92. 
1831. Thyreocoris histeroides Say, Descr. Het. Hem., 2. 
1839. Odontoscelis nitiduloides Germar, Zeitschr. Ent., I, 37. 
1851. Corimelaena nitiduloides Dallas, List Hem., I, 56. 
1859. Thyreocoris histeroides Say, Compl. Writ., I, 311. 
1876. Thyreocoris nitiduloides Stal, Svensk. Vet. Handl., 14, no. 4, 23. 
1877. Corimelaena nitiduloides Uhler, Bull. U. S. Geol. Geogr. Survy., III, 365. 
1904. Corimelaena nitiduloides Van Duzee, Trans. Am. Ent. Soc., XXX, 5. 
1911. Thyreocoris nitiduloides Zimmer, Univ. Neb. Contrib. Dept. Ent., no. 4, 27. 
General form ovate, somewhat narrowed posteriorly. Color deep black, 
sometimes more or less bronzed and shiny. Punctuation deeper and 
closer than in 7. ater. Head broad, rounded, regularly, deeply punctate 
except extreme base and along postero-median line; anterior margin not 
indented; the tylus as long as juga; lateral margins sinuate. Antennae 
dark yellowish brown to dark reddish brown, the two apical segments us- 
ually somewhat darker; not so heavy as in 7. ater. Rostrum dark reddish 
brown to black, the distal two-thirds always black; apex acute, extend- 
ing just to mid-coxae. Pronotum broad, convex, regularly, rather finely 
and deeply punctate so that it does not have the highly polished appear- 
ance so characteristic of T. ater. Scutellum broad, narrowing distinctly 
on posterior half, opaque black, sometimes shining but not highly polished; 
the sides more deeply and heavily punctured than the disk; edge of 
scutellum at base somewhat more deeply excavate than in T. ater but less 
so than in 7. niger. Coriaceous portion of hemelytra entirely black, a 
little broader than in the preceding form; a distinct ridge on the corium 
between cubital and subcostal veins and running parallel with them, ex- 
tends nearly from base to apex; a pronounced impressed line bounds this 
ridge inwardly. Venter shining, sparsely punctate on disk but densely 
punctuate at sides; forward extension of last complete ventral segment 
in male more or Jess rounded and without median acute projection. Os- 
tiolar region as in the preceding form. Legs black, the femora with few 
if any spines and the tibiae with fewer spines than in Tf. ater; tarsi 
reddish brown. Length, 4.0-4.5 mm. Width across pronotum, 2.7-3.5 mm. 
Of our entirely black thyreocorids this is the most common and 
widely. distributed. It may be distinguished from ater by the 
deeper and closer punctuation thus leaving a shining but not 
highly polished surface, the narrower form posteriorly, the 
deeper excavation at the base of the secutellum and the larger and 
heavier antennae; in addition, the present form shows a distinct 
ridge between the subcostal and cubital veins of the corium. 
From niger it may be separated by the more elongate and nar- 
rowed form and by the lack of transverse wrinkling on the base 
