On the species of <I>Sphenophorus</I> hitherto considered as <I>simplex</I> Le Conte

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

OF WASHINGTON.

VOL.

VI.

JULY,

1904.

No.

_3.

The

_followingsix papers have been presented ^for publica tion:

ON THE SPECIES OF SPHENOPHORUS HITHERTO CON SIDERED AS SIMPLEX LECONTE.*

By

^F.

H. CHITTENDEN.

Since the publication of

Sphenophorus

simplex

by LeContef

there has been discovered,

and

is present ⁱⁿ

most

_large collec tions, a series of a considerably larger species

which

at first

glance,with exception ^ofan occasional

abnormal

individual, can readily be_separated

from

the true simplex

which was

described from

San Juan

^{and Fort}

Yuma,

California.

The

^sizeof the ser ies of simplex

which

Dr.

Horn had

at

hand when

he reviewed the genus

Sphenophorus

ⁱⁿ 1873,!

was

less thana third of an inch.

The

other species

which

the writer has mentioned fre quently measures halfan inch

and

sometimes a little more. Itis true that thissecond _species,to

which

I propose^togive the

name

of

mormon,

^{since it is found} chiefly ⁱⁿ Utah, ^is very closely re lated to simplex, ^asevidenced

by

^{the similarity of the} sexes,and

itisevident also that they had a

common

ancestor, or one

may

possibly be an offshootof the other.

During

July, 1903,Mr.

H.

F.

Wickham

_captured still athird form belonging ^tothis group,

*This paperwas _presented for publication with No.2 of the Proceed ings but excluded^forlackof_space. Publication Committee.

tProc. Acad.Sci. Phila., 1859,P- 7-

+ContributionstoaKnowledgeof the Curculionidae of thellnitedStates, P- 4*3-

128 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

and

_presented the National

Museum

with a

good

^series.

The

study of a very large^series

shows

that although ^a few individ uals ofsimplex,chieflyfrom Utah, approach ⁱⁿ

some few

charac ters a tendency ^to

merge

^into

mormon

from the

same

State, nevertheless they can be _separated

by

^characters

which

will be furnished in 'the

accompanying

^table.

The

latter species ^isnot

known

and

may

^{not occur in} California, and it is

much

lessvari able than is the truesimplex.

The

third species,

which

^I have

named

distichlidis,^is apparently

known

_onlyfrom the_vicinityof

Amedee.

California.

Some

of the characters,

and

particularly those of the sexes furnished in the description of

mormon,

^have

not previously been noted in this

group

^to

my

knowledge.

The

followingsynopsis ^is furnished:

Rostrum withoutcarinae,or, ifpresent, feebly indicatedand short.

Scutellumvariable, feeblybroadly concave.

Elytra subopaque, ^thorax normallyshining^{; discal stria;} nar row and shallowand less distinctlypunctate; ^{sutural striae} quiteor nearly straight^{; intervals} alternatelyvery minutely uni-and bi-seriatelypunctulate. Anterior tibiaeseldomser rate inside. Pvgidium normally^withdistinct lateral apical

tuftsofhairs, of 9 distinctly bilaterallyconcave.

simplexLeConte Rostrumstrongly carinate^atmiddle and at sides,carinae long.

Scutellumsomewhatvariable,channeled atmiddle.

Elytra and thorax normally shining; ^{dibcal striae} very wide, deep and distinctlypunctate; ^{sutural strite}outwardly curved at base; intervals distinctly punctulate with two or three rows. Anteriortibiaeandsometimesalldistinctly serrate ⁱⁿ side. Pygidium without ^{tufts ofhair; of} 9 not bilaterally concaveor _feeblyso.

Firstand second abdominal segments 9distinctly separate.

mormon, ^n. sp.

Elytra and thorax subopaque; ^{discal striae} moderately ^wide, deep andpunctate^; suturalcurved; intervals 1,2,3 and_{5 bi-} ortri-seriatelypunctulate. Anteriortibiaeseldomserrate in side.

Firstand second abdominal segments 9 connate^orsubcon-

nate disttckltdis, n. sp.

Sphenophorus mormon,

n. sp.

Of

very similarformand appearance^tosimplex, but

much

_larger. Sur face without _{coating of} any^kind. General color polished jet black, or with the_elytrapiceousandtheentiredorsalsurfacemoreorlesspolished.

Legs^{black ordark}piceous.

Rostrum three-fifths as long ^{as the} thorax, moderatelyarcuate, mode

ratelynearly uniformlycompressed, more _narrowlyatthe apex, strongly

OF WASHINGTON. 129

carinateon anteriormargin and^{at the}sides, the carinas extending from thedilated portion of the base^to near the apex; base moderately^wide, suddenly^dilated over the scrobes, feebly or not canaliculate, interocular fossa distinct, large and shallow, from which afine impressed ^{line leads} tothe median carina; anterior face of apex convex; ^surface nearly uni formlyfinelyanddensely punctate. Head_finelysparsely punctulate.

Thorax _moderately convex, about one-fourth longer than wide, basal halfsubparallel, apicalhalfmoderatelyarcuatelynarrowertoapex,which

is rather strongly constricted; surface moderately deeply, finely, and somewhat_{sparselypunctate, punctures larger}and_sparse in frontofscu- tellum, finerand dense along^{the basal} margin. Scutellum channeledat middle.

Elytra ^one-fifth wider than thorax, graduallynarrower toward apex^;

striaepunctatethroughout^theirlength, ^firststriastrongly curved^atsides of scutellum, feeblypunctateat base, theothers graduallymore_distinctly

tothe sides. Intervals flat, subequal ⁱⁿ width, variable ⁱⁿ punctuation, thefirstand second and sometimesthethirdand fourthtri-seriatelypunc tulate,theothers irregularlywith punctulation ⁱⁿone, twoor three rows.

Pygidium moderatelycoarselyand densely punctate,punctures naked ^or bearingminute yellowhairs,without_apicaltufts.

Lower surface _finely, rather densely punctate, feebly on prosternum and middleofabdominal segments,sparselyⁱⁿ the middleof themeta- stsrnum, denselyⁱⁿthe_apicalregion of the ^lastsegment.

Male. Metasternum _broadlyand moderatelyconcave, ^first abdominal andaportion of thesecond segment broadlyfeeblyconcave: tibiae angu-

lateand strongly fimbriate with long yellow^hairs on the inner surface beyond the angle, the posterior pairvery stronglyangulated; pygidium subtruncate with rounded sides.

Female. Metasternum _{feebly concave,} abdominal segments convex;

posterior ^tibiae not strongly angulated, ^less fimbriate; pygidium feebly bilaterallyconcave,roundedatapex.

Length 10-13

mm;

^width3.6-4.5

mm.

Salt

Lake

_City, Utah, April 19

(H.

Soltau) ^; SaltLake,

June

14

(Hubbard and Schwarz);

Provo,

Utah (H.

^F.

Wickham)

^;

Reno,

Nev., July, 1902

(H.

^F.

Wickham)

^; Laramie,

Wyo.,

April 23, 1888 (H. Soltau); Helena, Mont.,

May

ⁱ

(Hubbard and Schwarz); "Dakota" _(H.

Ulke, ⁱ _ex.) ;

" Grand

_Coulee,

Wash., Steamboat Rock,

10 July,

1902"

(C.

V.

_Piper.)

Collectedin saltmarshesinthe_vicinityof Salt

Lake

_{by Messrs.}

Hubbard and Schwarz.

Type.

No.

_7877,

U.

S. National

Museum.

Describedfrom abundant material.

A

few obviously

much worn

individuals with reddish _elytra have

subopaque

^thorax

and

_elytra,

and

one has reddish _legs.

130 KNTOMOL01-1ICAL SOCIETY Sphenophorus

distichlidis, ^n. sp.

Similarto

mormon

withwhich^itagrees ^{in the} structure of therostrum and, _{nearly, in}the sculpture of the elytra. ^It averages ^{a little} smaller, withtheentiresurface subopaque, and^{with the}legs and less frequently the _elytraandthorax rufous or piceous. The punctua'ion ^is feeble,not so strongon the thorax, metasternum or abdominal segments ^{as in sim} plex. Thetibiaeare lessangulateand morefinely fimbriate,andtheante riortibiaearenormally withoutinside serration.

Male. Firstand second abdominal segments moderately^distinct; pos teriortibiasmorestrongly angulateandfimbriate.

Female. Firstand second abdominal segments connateor nearly ^{so at} the middle; posterior ^tibiae feeblyangulate and _finelyand sparsely fim briate.

Length8.5-11 5

mm;

^width3.2-4.0

mm.

Amedee,

Cal., 4,200 ^ft, July 11-28, 1903. Collected by

Mr.

H.

F.

Wickham who

has kindly presented ^a

good

^{series to the} National

Museum on

Distichlidis spicata, ^a maritime _grass

which grows

^{in salt marshesand} saline spots.

Type.

No.

_7878,

U.

S. National

Museum.

Sphenophorus simplex

^LeConte.

In this species the

normal

_{shining jet} black color is varied

by

individuals with

more

or less rufous _legs, and the _elytra are frequently piceous ⁱⁿ evidentlyfully developed specimens.

One

otherwise deep black individual with _{velvety elytra} has the base of the_elytra

and

the _legsbright rufous. In the smallest individ uals there arefewer

rows

of punctulations ⁱⁿ the elytral intervals than in the _larger.ones,

and

in thespecimen ^last mentioned _they are so minute as tobe almost indistinguishable.

The

_following ^{isadded to the} recorded_locality list:

In California:

Palm

_Springs,

_February

2, 17

(H.

^G.

Hubbard), Los Angeles

(D.

W.

Coquillett),

Panamint

_{Valley, April 19 (A.}

Koebele), Harold,

March

_{31 (A. B. Eells),}

_{San Diego}

_(G.

H.

Field). In

Utah

^: Salt

Lake

City (H. Soltau), Salt Lake,

June

14

(Hubbard

and Schwarz).

ON THE SPECIES OF SPHENOPHORUS HITHERTO CON SIDERED AS PLACIDUS SAY.

By

^F.

^H. CHITTENDEN.

When Thomas _Say

ⁱⁿ his "

Descriptions of

North American

Curculionides," etc.,* described

Rhynchophorus

placidus with

*Complete Writings,

Thomas

Say,etc., Lee. Ed., 1859, ^i, p.290