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Psyche 6:89-93, 1891.

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PSYCHE.
A DECADE OF MONSTROUS BEETLES.
BY SAMUEL H. SCUDDER.
Monstrosities among insects have al-
ways a unique interest; early in my
entomological career I began the col-
lection of facts regarding them, planning a general survey and classification of
the entire literature of the subject, which I have not only never fully carried out, but which the multiplicity of other work will prevent my undertaking seriously
for a long time to come, if ever. On
that account I have thought it well to
publish the few original cases which
have come into my hands, and of which
I have made notes, together with illus-
trations of them. None of them are of
exceptional interest, but one or two are not a little remarkable. They all be-
long to the Coleoptera, and all but one
to one of the two families, Carabidae
and Scarabaeidae. The drawings were
made by Messrs. J. H. Emerton and
Edward Burgess.
CARABIDAE.
Carabus sewatus Say. 8.
A right
fore leg in which the femur is normal but the tibia unusually thick at base ; only a short distance beyond (about 4 the
distance) it divides into two branches,
each of which is at tip very nearly, if
not quite, as large as the normal tibia. The inner one is not so well developed
as the outer and may therefore be con-
sidered the supernumerary limb. The
inner is slightly shorter. The tarsal
joints of each are five in number, and in the inner are slightly shorter than in the outer; this is especially the case with
the terminal joint. In the inner leg the terminal joint is not inserted in the
middle of the previous but upon the
middle of its inner half and at the same time it is slightly curved inwards as if to give room for another joint, which
indeed I think once existed, for there is a pit upon the middle of the outer half
of the terminal surface of the penulti-
mate joint just large enough for the re- '
ception of such a joint, and this too
would account for the unusual shortness
of the remaining terminal joint. The
terminal joint of the outer leg is pro-
vided with a normal pair of claws ; the
other has only a slightly bent, very
minute, and very short central and un-
divided process.
The outer tibia is normal in shape
and in armature ; the inner exhibits
above a longitudinal groove broad and
deep in the middle, becoming abruptly
shallow and narrow anteriorly, and ter-
minating by a union of the borders at
Pucht 6 W9-94 (pre.1903). http //pychc aitclub org/#6-0089 html



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PSYCHE.
[June 1891.
the very margin of the limb ; posteriorly it shallows, narrows gradually, and ter- minates in a point back of the division
of the primary tibia. A similar but not
so distinct groove is seen beneath, and
at the tip beneath three instead of two
prominent spines are visible. It is evi- dent, then, that the inner portion of this supernumerary leg is exhibiting a ten-
dency itself to divide in two places : at the tip of the tibia and at the tip of the tarsi ; the only indication in the parts lying between these two points is in the very trifling greater width of all the
tarsal joints.
This specimen was received from Mr.
Frederick Blanchard of Lowell through
Mr. E. P. Austin. It is now in the
Museum of comparative zoology in
Cambridge.
Dyschirius sp. (PI. 2, fig. 7).
Of
this species I have only notes and rough sketches referring to the right front
tarsus. The 1st and 2d joints are nor-
mal ; the 3d is longer than usual, bent
a little forwards, and bears at the bend a 4th joint and at the tip another ; that at the tip bears a normal 5th joint with claws as usual only a little smaller ; that at the bend bears an altogether similar
5th joint only the claws are still smaller, scarcely curved, and a second still more abortive pair of claws is found at the
outer edge close to the tip, thus show-
ing signs of double bifidity.
The specimen was shown me by Dr.
J. L. LeConte, but its origin I do not
know. ,
Amara musculus Say (PI. 2, fig. 2).
The right antenna is I 2-jointed ; the left antenna is affected as follows : joint 1-6 normal (the first not shown in the figure) 7th a very little enlarged apically, the better to support the abnormal 8th joint, which is depressed and beyond the base,
here slightly larger than usual, ex-
pands and forms a sublenticular mass
slightly longer than broad, with a dis-
tinct straight impressed line down the
middle of the upper inner surface (as if made up oftwo connate joints) ; it is of the normal length. Each of these two
lateral halves bears an appendage of
four almost precisely similar joints, the exact counterpart of those of the oppo-
site antenna except in being a very little smaller though of the same proportions ; the lower is borne at the extremity of
the lower half, and is continuous with
the antenna ; while the upper is attached to the upper outer angle of the upper
half and trends a little away from the
normal direction ; the 9th, loth and
I it11 joints of this half are a trifle shorter than those of the other more normal
half.
The specimen came from Massa-
chusetts, and was received from Mr.
Samuel Henshaw.
Galeritajanus Fabr. (PI. 2, fig. I).
The specimen of this species which I
have to describe briefly, is not greatly malformed. Malformation occurs in the
right hind leg, the femur of which is
perfectly natural, and the tibia is of nor- mal length and clothing, but is perhaps
a little swollen, and considerably twisted from a point slightly beyond the base,
the curvature being more or less sinuous, at first and most strongly backward, at




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June 1891.1
PSYCHE.
' the apex in the opposite direction. It hears the usual spines at the apex, but
the longer inner one is curved beyond
the middle. All that remains of the
tarsus is a spine-like appendage which
takes its place,-an appendage less than
'
one half the diameter at base, about as
as long as twice the width of the tibia, tapering slightly, and bluntly rounded
at tip.
The specimen was obtained by the
late Mr. F. G. Sanborn, May 10, 1868,
in West Roxbury, Mass., and is now in
the museum of the Natural history
society, Boston.
CJzloenius tomentosa Say (PI. 2,
fig. 3). The single specimen before me
shows a somewhat simple malformation
in the left middle leg. The femur and
tibia are normal, excepting that the tibia is somewhat more enlarged than natural
at the ilpex, more resembling in this
respect the fore tibia, expanding broadly at its extreme apex. Here, besides the
normal spurs, there is the attachment
of what appear to be a triple series of
tarsi. The middle one is reduced to a
mere conical bulb between the other
two, bristling at its apex with spines of a moderate length ; one of the others
consists only of what may perhaps be
regarded as the basal half of the meta-
tarsus extending at right angles outward, bluntly rounded at the apex, but show-
ing at the extreme apex and just at its
side the points from which a couple of
spines, probably of moderate size, have
been broken off; the inner is the only
developed tarsus, and this is malformed
in two ways: first that the metatarsus
is rather stouter than normal, a little
curved, and is followed by a short
supernumerary joint only a little smaller .
than the normal second joint; and
second, that the whole tarsus is bent at right angles between the supernumerary
joint and the second (this bend is not
seen in the figure) ; unless indeed these two joints may be regarded as one, con-
stricted and bent at right angles in the middle.
This specimen was obtained by Mr.
F. Stratton at Natick, Mass., and is
now in the museum of the Natural his-
tory society, Boston.
7
LAMPY RIDAE.
Tele-phorus rotandicoZZis Say (PI.
2, fig. 5).
A right antenna in which
the first joint is longer than usual; the second is of ordinary length but as large at base as at apex and bears two joints, one at the apex, a normal third fol-
lowed by eight joints as usual, and the
other a short, depressed, thickened joint articulated on the apical half of the an- terior face of the second joint, and fol- lowed by five joints, the first of which is like the preceding, while the rest are slender, elongated joints, somewhat like the normal joints but evidently useless
and perhaps immoveable (by will) in
life, together curling backward.
In the drawing the normal third bears
a curved appendage which I did not
see ; and the third joint of the supple- mentary palp, being bent and folded, is
represented as if made up of two small
joints.
This specimen was shown me by Dr.




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[June 1891.
J. L. LeConte, but its origin I do not
know.
Lachnosterna fusca Froh. (PI. 2,
fig. 8) '.
This is on the whole the most
singular monstrosity with which I have
met. It concerns the middle leg of
the left side. The femur of normal
length is extraordinarily enlarged so as to form a cuneate piece, at its apex
nearly as broad as half the length of the femur. From both the anterior and pos-
terior extremities of the expanded sub-
compressed apex there arises an inde-
pendent tibia ; the anterior is sub-nor- mal, having all the parts but the tibia
somewhat reduced in size and of more
uniform width throughout, the tarsi
tentirely normal and complete. The set
'of members arising from the posterior
extremity of the expanded femur con-
sists of a tibia similar in length and in general appearance to the other but
stouter and deeply cleft on its outer face to the depth of fully one third its length. Each of the uniform halves thus cleft
presents the normal pair of apical spurs and is followed by a series of tarsi in
general respects normal but of rather
diminished size, and the upper having
the terminal joint not bullate at the ex- tremity but terminating in a conical
point without any claws.
The origin of this specimen I do not
know; it is now in the Museum of
comparative zoology at Cambridge.
PolyfhyZZa decemlineata Say (PI.
2, fig. 6).
A right antenna in which
.the first and second joints are normal, the third not larger than usual but bear- ing two fourth joints : the first articulated at the tip, the second articulated on the anterior face, the articulation occupying all of it but the part close to the base ; both fourth joints are formed in general like the normal fourth joint ; the first is directed backward and bears a normally
formed set of laminae, seven in number,
but small and directed subparallel to,
though not so much curved as, those of
the left antenna ; in this case the second- ary fourth joint differs from the normal fourth only in being smaller to about
the degree that the laminae are smaller
than-normally. In the second case the
fourth joint is greatly swollen and bears at its broad apex a very peculiar set of lamellae, which from the first show their intention to divide ; three are undivided, but irregular in shape, more 01- less iin- perfect, and attached not by one ex-
tremity but near the middle, the longer
portion directed anteriorly and a little inward; the shorter in an opposite
direction, each curved downward ; the
first two of these are flat laminae, a little thickened at the point of attachment ;
the third is enormously thickened at
this point and produced into a triangular projection, upon either side of which
are attached the remaining laminae,
four anterior and three posterior, the
division of this portion of the bifid an- tenna taking place at this point.
This specimen was shown me by Dr.
J. L. LeConte, but I did not learn its
origin.
CotaZ$a laniyera Linn. Instances
are quite frequent in which the longer




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Psyche, 1891, vol. 6.
Plate 2.




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June 1891 .] PSYCHE. 93
anterior claw on one or many of the
feet shows a tendency to division, being in some instances cleft on the posterioi- outer edge from a little below the tip
one-sixth the distance to the base of the claws. Mr. E. P. Austin first drew
my attention to this feature, and informs me that he has noticed it in a consider- able number of specimens he has ex-
amined. Nearly every specimen I have
examined shows some trace of it, from
a tubercular enlargement of the spot
whence the bifurcation proceeds, up to
the amount I have mentioned above.
Half of the four specimens in the Harris collection in the Boston society of nat- ural history have it.
Trichius piger Fabr. (PI. 2, fig. 4).
A right hind leg in which the femur is
normal ; the tibia is slightly shortened and thickened, but terminated by the
usual two spines; the tarsal joints are
curved rather strongly upward, and in-
stead of being uniformly long, slender,
and gradually thickened at the apex,
are (except the last) uniformly and
nearly equally short and stout, nearly
triangular, with the apex prominent be-
neath ; they are scarcely longer than
their extreme height at apex. The last
joint is conical, truncated, a little smaller only at tip than at bass, about twice as long as it is broad at the base, and very slightly curved outwards; it bears at
the tip a pair of scarcely divaricating
claws a little shorter than the normal ; bnt in addition to this it also bears at the very base of the joint, above, two
more pairs of claws ; one pair so near
the base as to appear at first sight to be attached to the penultimate joint, a little smaller than, and facing in the same
direction as the apical pair, and also
scarcely divaricate ; the other, just be- yond, also scarcely divaricate, larger
than either of the other pairs, but still smaller than the normal claws, and fac-
ingin an opposite direction to the other two pairs ; apparently the claws are all freely moveable.
The specimen was obtained at Med-
ford, Mass., by the late Mr. F. G. San-
born, and is now in the museum of the
Boston society of natural history.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 2.
I. Right hind leg of Galerita janus.
2. Left antenna of Amara musculus.
3. Left mid leg of Chloenius tomen-
tosa.
4. Right hind leg of Trichius piger.
5. Right antenna of Telephorus ro-
tundicollis.
6. Right antenna of Polyphylla de-
cemlineata.
7. Right fore leg of Dyschirius sp.
8. Left midleg of Lachnosterna fusca.
PERSONAL NOTES.-Mr. C. W. Woodworth,
Mr. Theo. D. A. Cockerell, of England,
recently entomologist to the Agricultural formerly secretary of the Colorado biological experiment station at Fayetteville, Ark., has association, has been appointed curator of accepted a similar position at the station in the museum in Kingston, Jamaica. After Berkeley, Cal., and has already moved to his June 24 his address will be Institute of new post.
Jamaica, Kingston, W. I.




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