526 
The Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol. IX, No. 8, 
Color has been used extensively in classifying these insects, 
but this affords a rather unreliable basis for identification. It is 
true the color patterns are so permanent in some groups of 
insects as to become almost a structural character, but it is 
impossible to give the color such weight in this particular case 
although many writers have given little else in their identification 
of certain species of Lepidocyrtus. Color is evidently an 
especially unstable character in this genus on account of the 
iridescent scales. The opalescent effect never appears the same 
under two varying lights, and even though the general tone of 
the insect may be dark or light, it is often very difficult to say 
just what the most uniform color of the specimen may be. If, 
however, the structural characters of the antennae,' eyes, claws 
and spring, and the length of the adult insect are given, there 
should be little trouble in the identification. Not that the color 
should be disregarded but rather that the greater importance of 
the structural features should be emphasized. It is the lack of 
these important characters that makes it impossible to formulate 
a key to the genus. 
The genus Lepidocyrtus was proposed by M. L’Abbe Bourlet 
in his “Memoire sur les Podures” published in 1839, for that 
group of the Linnaean genus Podura having, “Antennes courtes, 
de quatre articles, huit ocelles,” and “couvertes d’ecailles.” Not 
all of the genera proposed by M. Bourlet at that time were 
accepted, but Lepidocyrtus was, and has been retained until the 
present time. 
Classification: —The distinguishing characters of the genus 
Lepidocyrtus as it is recognized to-day are the projecting 
mesonotum, the short, four-jointed antennae, and the presence 
of scales. The number of ocelli has been given as characteristic, 
but this cannot be depended upon. 
In the dorsal view of L. luteus n. sp. the head is almost 
entirely concealed, while in L. purpureus Lubbock the pronotum 
projects but little. The character of the scales and of the 
antennae may be considered as constant, but it is sometimes a 
difficult matter to distinguish between the projecting mesonotum 
of a Lepidocyrtus, and that of Seira which differs from the former 
genus only in not possessing the projecting mesonotum. The 
gradation between the two is so gradual that this character 
often proves quite unsatisfactory, for which reason it is necessary 
to take other characters into consideration in the determination 
of certain species. 
The antennae are comparatively short throughout the genus, 
never being so long as the body. An examination of numerous 
forms has shown that the number of the ocelli in the eye spot 
may range from a single ocellus to as many as eight. The 
