328 
Psyche 
[December 
ON THE DRYOPID BEETLE GENUS LARA 
By P. J. Darlington, Jr. 
Collecting at North Bend, Washington, in July, 1927, 
yielded a large series of the dryopid genus Lara, which was 
described in 1852 by Leconte (Proc. Acad. N. S. Philadel- 
phia 5, 1852, p. 42.) to contain a single species from Cali- 
fornia. Superficial examination showed at once that there 
were two species represented in the Washington material. 
Comparison with the type of L. a vara Lee. proved further 
that the insect I had at first identified as that species was 
at least subspecifically distinct, so that it is now possible 
to discriminate two new forms and at the same time to 
give a brief account of their habits. 
In our fauna Lara is an isolated genus of the Potamo- 
philini, seeming to be, as Leconte says in the original de- 
scription, “the desired link connecting the anomalous Eury- 
palpus (Psephenus) with the true Parnidsc. There are 
several apparent relatives, such as Disersus, in Central and 
South America, however. Leconte's description of Lara is 
sufficiently full, and the genus has been figured by Horn 
in the Trans. American Ent. Soc., 10, 1882, Plate 6, fig. 16. 
Key to the Species of Lara 
Pronotum with the hind angles acute, but scarcely more 
prominent than the middle lobes; elytral pubescence uni- 
form L. gehringi 
Pronotum with the hind angles acute and prominent; 
alternate elytral intervals with the pubescence less decum- 
bent, so that the elytra appear dark with sericeous lines. 
Size larger; elytra wider as compared with the pro- 
thorax; pronotum proportionately longer, narrower, 
and with more prominent front and hind angles. 
L. avara amplipennis 
Characters opposed to those above L. avara avara 
