STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
683 
HAIRY-NECKED ROSE-BUG. THE SPECIES ERRONEOUSLY NAMED. 
wide-necked species? As this Rose-bug is one of the most common and 
formidable injurious insects of our country it is important that we have its 
nomenclature correctly ascertained and permanently settled. 
On referring to the fullest description which Fabricius has left to us of 
the species which he names subspinosa, that contained in his Entomologia 
Systematica, vol. ii, p. 118, wo find it applies alike to both of the species, 
none of the terms which he employs giving any indication which one of the 
two he had in his view. And the same remark is true of the still more 
detailed description, cotemporaueously given by Olivier (Entomologie, i, 5, 
p 70 ). There being nothing therefore in the original definitions of the 
subspinosus whereby we can decide .to which of these two species this name 
rightfully belongs, if we were left to the general fact that the one species 
is common throughout the United States, whilst the other is quite local, 
occurring only along the Hudson River, where the other species is associa¬ 
ted with it and is usually the more numerous of the two, the presumption 
would be strong that it must have been the former of these species which 
'had found its way to Europe and was the insect with which these old 
authors were acquainted. But in addition to this, other incidental evidence 
is furnished us which must be regarded as decisive upon this subject. 
Fabricius cites the M. elongata of Ilerbst as being the same insect with his. 
If we admit this citation to be correct, it is conclusive upon the point at 
issue, Herbst’s species with the “flachliegenden Hitrchen,” the flat-lying 
little hairs, being evidently the smooth necked one. Fabricius further 
gives the West India islands as the locality where the subspinosus occurs. 
Surely this must preclude us from regarding an insect found only in the 
State of New York as being his species. It appears from Dejean’s cata¬ 
logue and from several other authorities that the same insect which is 
found in the United States, is found in different parts of the West Indies 
also, and from Lacordaire we learn that its geographical range reaches 
south into the republic of Colombia. Thus, the proof seems to be conclu¬ 
sive that it is the smooth narrow-necked species to which the name sub¬ 
spinosus rightfully pertains. 
We are thus left without a name for the other species, and I therefore 
propose to term it the barbatus, the bearded or Hairy-necked Rose-bug. As 
already stated, it is the M. subspinosus of Burrneister and of Le Conte, but 
not of Fabricius, Olivier, Latreille, Harris, and others. In the description 
of subspinosus given by Latreille, occurs the phrase “thorace angusto,” 
tlio thorax narrow, clearly showing it is not this wide-necked species tc 
which he refers. 
It is difficult to ascertain the dimensions of these Rose-bugs with accu¬ 
racy, in our dried cabinet specimens, the thorax and head being inclined 
downwards much more in some of them than in others. My specimens of 
this Hairy-necked species vary in length from 0.30 to 0.38, showing there 
is no such difference in their size as has been reported, whereby this species 
can be distinguished from the other. Nor, on the underside of the abdomen 
in the females of the smooth-necked species do I detect any bristles, which 
arc stated as occurring in it, on the middle of the four anterior segments. 
