12 
Psyche 
[February- 
common United States species which we call N. variabiiis from 
Brazil and am inclined to believe that it does not exist there. If 
the first named variety of Fieber’s N. variabiiis is to be taken as 
the type, I should be inclined to the opinion that the name macu - 
lata which Fieber gave to his variety from Baltimore should be 
used as Fieber’s name for our North American species. His 
description fits our insect very well. The size is too small to be 
applied to our common N. undulata Say which Fieber appears 
to have known only from the literature describing this insect 
under other names. It happens, however, that the name N 
maculata was employed previously by Fabricius. I suggest the 
name Notonecta lunata for the North American species which 
we have hitherto called N. variabiiis. A figure of the male genital 
capsule is shown on Plate XXXI, Fig. 11 of Kansas University 
Science Bulletin No. XI. 
Under N. polystolisma Fieber describes 5 varieties, four of 
them from Brazil and probably various color phases in the devel- 
opment of the color pattern of one species. One variety which he 
called sellata came from Buenos Aires and is most certainly N. 
bifasciata Gu6rin. Kirkaldy and Bueno call N. polystolisma 
Fieber a S 3 monym of N. bifasciata Guerin. 
There have come to my hand for determination several 
small species of Notonecta from South America. No one seems 
to have given these insects the close scrutiny necessary to sep- 
arate the species. As will be seen by the drawings submitted, 
there are distinct structural characters. There are also character- 
istic color patterns, but much confusion can arise because of the 
teneral specimens taken in various stages of pigmentation. It 
also happens that in some of these species there are two color 
phases — the pale immaculate forms as well as the nearly black 
forms, a condition similar to that of the well known Notonecta 
shooteri Uhler. 
Notonecta bicirca sp. nov. 
Size: Length, 9 mm.; width, 3 mm. Some are a little 
larger and some a little smaller than the measurements given. 
