F. G. Werner.
Revision of the Genus Pleuropompha Leconte (Coleop., Meloidae).
Psyche 50(1-2):30-33, 1943.

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Psyche
[March- June
REVISION OF THE GENUS PLEUROPOMPHA
LECONTE (COLEOP., MELOIDB)
Biological Laboratories, Harvard University Genus Pleuropompha LeConte
LeConte, J. L., 1862, Smiths. Misc. Coll. 3:273. Wellman, C., 1910, Ent. News 21: 2,215, 221j2 1910, Can. Ent. 42~394. Van Dyke, E. C., 1928, Univ. Calif. Publ. Ent. 4:400, 404. Geno- type : Lytta costata Lec., 18.54, monobasic. The genus Pleuropompha belongs to the tribe Lyttini auct. and should be placed near Epicauta Dej. because of the patch of silky pubescence on the inner face of the anterior femora. From Epicauta it differs in having costae on the elytra. The other costate genus of the tribe, Plewopasta Wellm., does not have the femoral patch and is glabrous. Elongate third to fifth antenna! joints of the male distinguish it from all of the genera of the tribe.
Head subquadrate, densely pubescent except for an impressed median line. Thorax campanuliform, also with an impressed median line. Antenna1 joints three to five in the male more or less elongate, smooth. All tibiae with two spurs, in both sexes. First joint of anterior tarsi of male slightly elongated but tarsi not otherwise modified.
Two very distinct species are included, both from North America. These may be found to inhabit also the northern states of Mexico.
Key to Species of Pleuropompha
A. Each elytron with four strong costse, raised suture and mar- ................ gin set off by denuded margins. Pubescence white. ............................................................................ costata (Lee.) 'Published with the aid of a grant from the Museum of Comparative Zo- ology, Harvard College.
"Plewopomph," probably a lapsus calami.
Pswhe 5k30.13 (1943). hup //psyche einclub nr$/SW50-OJO html



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1943 1 Genus Pleuropompha 3 1
AA. Each elytron with three strong costae, raised suture and margin not set off by denuded margins. Pubescence pale olive-cinereous. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . t~icostata sp. nov. Pleuropompha costata (LeConte)
Lytta costata LeConte, 1854, Proc. Acad. Nut. Sci. Phila. 7: 84; 1858, Journ. Acad. Nut. Sci. Phila. (2) 4: 23, ( 8 ). Pleuropompha costata, LeConte, 1862, Smiths. Misc. Coll. 3:273.
Black (or dark brown), densely clothed above with flattened white hairs and below with ordinary white pubescence. Elytra with four strong costse, two arising from the base and two from the humerus, the latter two not reaching the base. All the costae united posteriorly. These costae and the raised suture and margin densely pubescent, sharply set off by denuded mar- gins. The elytral intervals with sparser pubescence, so that they appear grey. Narrow; about four times as long as broad. Ten to eighteen mm. long but usually about sixteen. Head subquadrate; eyes prominent, small, transverse, quite narrow and excavated near the antennae and mandibles. Median impressed line deep, and conspicuous because of very narrow denuded areas bounding it. The rest of the head, includ- ing the antenna1 calluses, densely pubescent, with flattened hairs.
Clypeus also densely pubescent, but with normal hairs. Labrum slightly emarginate, sparsely pubescent. Antennae, black. Male: about three times as long as an anterior tibia, reaching to the basal third of the elytra. First joint normal, rather slender, reaching two-thirds across the eye; second and following slender, slightly flattened and loosely articulated. Second joint a little shorter than the first; third to fifth sub- equal, about two-thirds longer than the second, shiny; sixth to eleventh subequal, short, altogether equal to the fourth and fifth together. Female: first joint reaching to the middle of the eye; second two-thirds the first; third to fifth about equal to the first, normal; sixth to last short, together equal to the second to fifth. Pronotum elongate-campanulate, two-thirds longer than broad. Median impressed line as on the head, bounded by a pair of feeble longitudinal ridges. There is often a pair of small denuded spots on the disc just behind the middle. Legs dark brown. Pubescence white, black on tips of tibiae and



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32 Psyche [March- June
on tarsi. Outer spur of hind tibia broad, flattened; inner some- what narrower, also flattened. Rest of spurs slender, spiniform. Apparently this is not a very common species. The records are from comparatively few specimens. Wickham took it in some numbers at Alpine, Texas, however.
Type: Holotype ( 9 ) in LeConte Collection, MCZ, No. 4992 (examined); type locality: "Frontera, Rio Grande" (New Mexico).
Additional records: in MCZ, USNM, Ohio State, and others. New Mexico: Separ (on Salsola pestifera), Deming. Texas: Alpine (4400-6000 f t.) , Davis Mts. Arizona: Nogales, Willcox, Chiricahua Mts., Texas Pass-Dragoon Mts., Phoenix, Kayenta, Tucson.
Pleuropompha tricostata sp . nov.
Black, densely clothed with slightly flattened, pale olive- cinereous hairs. Elytra with three strong costse, only one aris- ing from the humerus. Costse, raised margin and suture more densely pubescent than the intervals but not set off by denuded margins and the intervals are also densely pubescent. The pubescence is almost uniform over the body, a little more flat- tened on the head. A little broader than costata, and averaging smaller, twelve to fourteen mm. long.
Head subquadrate; eyes as in costata but slightly broader. Pubescence dense and covering the entire head except for the median impressed line, which is not further set off by denuded margins. Clypeus and labrum as in costata. Antennce black. Male: two and one-half times as long as an anterior tibia, reach- ing to the basal fifth of the elytra. First joint reaching to the middle of the eye, rather slender. Second slender, two-thirds as long as the first; third half again as long .as the second; fourth and fifth a little shorter. Third to fifth shiny, rather slender but increasing in thickness outward. Seventh to last short, equal, each being about three-fourths the sixth and to- gether equal to second to sixth. Female: first and second joints essentially as in the male; third a little longer than the first; rest subequal, three-fourths the third and decreasing slightly in thickness. Pronoturn campanuliform, one-third longer than broad. Median impressed line as on the head. Raised areas as in costata but without denuded spots. Legs entirely dark brown, rather densely pubescent. Outer spur of hind tibia broad, but



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1943 1 Genus Pleuropompha 33
not as broad as in costata; inner almost spiniform but both flattened. Rest of spurs spiniform.
Not as common as costata and seems to occupy the same range. It has been universallyconfused with costata in collec- tions.
Holotype: 8, Presidio, Texas, June 1-15, 1941, at light (USNM) .
Allotype : ? , eutopotypical (USNM ) .
Paratypes: 3 8 8 , 4 ? ? , eutopotypical (USNM). 1 8 , Dog Canon, Brewster Co., Texas, Sept. 3, 1912 Rehn and Hebard (Phila. Acad.) .
1 8 , 19, Brewster Co., Texas, D. J. & J. N. Knull (Ohio State). 1 8 , Cloudcroft, Sacramento Mts., New Mexico, July 1, 1940, D. G. Hall (USNM).
1 9, Roswell, New Mexico, Aug., 1902 (Fall Coll'n., MCZ). 1 9 , Texas Pass, Dragoon Mts., Arizona, July 19, 191 7, W. M. Wheeler (MCZ) .
Since describing this species (1943, Psyche, 49: 68), I have found three specimens of its female (two labelled "Paradise, Ariz.," one "So. Ariz.") in the collection of the United States National Museum. My reference (1.c. pp. 62, 69, 70) to Wright's figures has proved to be correct. V. NABOKOV, Mus. Comp. Zoology
Cambridge, Mass.




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