Article beginning on page 477.
Psyche 6:477-478, 1891.

Full text (searchable PDF)
Durable link: http://psyche.entclub.org/6/6-477.html

The following unprocessed text is extracted from the PDF file, and is likely to be both incomplete and full of errors. Please consult the PDF file for the complete article.

A NEW SPECIES OF STENOBOTHRUS FROM CONNECTICUT, WITH REMARKS ON OTHER NEW ENGLAND SPECIES. BY A. P. MORSE, WELLESLEY, MASS.
Stenobothrus olivaceus, sp. nov. Closely approaching 5. maculi$ennis Scudd. Head
conical. Face very oblique. Vertex nearly horizontal; acute at apex, in the 8 more, in the $! less, the sides slightly excavate ; nar- row between the eyes, in the $2 about equal to the width of an eye, in 8 less; slightly expanded at anterior margin of eyes. Central foveola of vertex rather deep ; its edges broad, raised; its depression slightly (8) or dis- tinctly ( 9 ) in advance of eyes, removed from the tip of vertex about two-thirds (J} or one- half (?) the distance between eyes. [See fig.] Facial costa shallowly sulcate, more deeply so than in maculipennis, the margins sharp ; at meeting with the vertex angulate, not rounded as in maculi$ennis. Lateral
foveolae distinct. Eyes slightly smaller and less prominent than in macuUpennis; seen from the side the upper front portion is more angulate in 9, more rounded in 3 than in . maculipennis. Antennae rather short, vari- able, about equal to head and prothorax; slightly flattened toward the base, at tip gradually tapering to a fine point. Thorax rather stout. Pronotum with the median
carina distinct, sharp. Lateral carinae
distinct; on the anterior half of prozona sub- parallel or slightly convergent, on the re- maining portion of pronotum evenly diver- gent. Their course is straighter, less made up of curves, and less convergent on the prozona than in macdipennzs. Tegmina
long, passing hind femora by one-eighth to one-sixth their length. Wings longer and more pointed than in macziIz'pennis. Hind femora long, passing tip of abdomen, and rather slender.
Color. In generaleither olivaceous-brown or light green above, paler brown below; with the usual dark longitudinal band along lateral carinae of pronotum and middle of tegmina less sharply defined and in the male becoming obsolete. The colors are dead and have a faded appearance, with a peculiar olivaceous tinge matching the tints of the vegetation of its haunts. The dusky bands of the tegmina are less distinct in brown than in green specimens, and in males than in females. Brown specimens are the more
plentiful.
Green specimen, fresh.
Face and cheeks
pale pea-green. Eyes brown or slate, con- siderably darker than surroundings. Clypeus, labrum and mouthparts light brown, palpi paler or white. A brown or fuscous band
running backward from upper half of each eye over occiput. Antennae light brown at base, darker toward tip. Pronotum pale pea- green; the sides with a dark band running along the dorsal third, black nearest carinae, crossing them upon the disk of metazona. Lateral carinae pale green or whitish.
Meso- and metethorax with the sides pale green. Pectus light brown. Tegmina pale
green; opaque, becoming translucent on
apical half; a dark median band. composed of nearly confluent small dusky spots extend- ing usually one-third, rarely two-thirds, its length, the edges indistinct; this band is nar- rower and shorter than in rnacu/z'pe&s, the spots smaller and less distinct. Wings trans- parent, veins and venules dusky; preapical fourth of costal margin opaque greenish, the veins heavily infuscated. Femora green or brownish, tibiae and tarsi lightbrown ; spines of hind tibiae tipped with black.
Abdomen with the dorsum brown, lightest
at sidesand on narrow median line, bordered below by a broad griseous or fuscous band punctate with black; pleurae palest, light brown; venter light brown; ovipositor
brown, black at extreme tip.
Brown specimens vary from pale brownish




================================================================================

478 PSYCHE. [June 1893.
straw to a rather dark olive-brown above, lighter and of a more olivaceous cast below. The occiput generally shows the usual two dusky longitudinal lines. Sides of pronotnm varied in middle third with dusky brown and pale griseous, the ventral third light gray or white. Episterna of inetathorax with pale oblique bands running downward toward
fossa 3. Hind femora brown above and
below : tibia1 groove greenish ; disk pale gray or nearly white on proximal half. its midline often dusky interrupted with
pale, fonning
two sub-distinct dusky spots on proximal two fifths of femora, which are indistinct in dry specin~ens; inner side similar to outer except that the ground-color is paler and the spots darker.
Measurements. Antenna: ^, 6-7 mm.;
9, 6. Hind fern.: S, 10-10.5; 9, 12.5-14. Teg.: 3, 14-15; 9, 17-21. Body: $,
16.5-18.7; , 21-25. Total length : ^,
19-20.7 ; 9, 23.5-28.
180 f , 167 $ .*
Greenwich and Stamford,
Conn., Aug. 1 I th to 28th.
This species though not widely spread was locally very plentiful in the salt marshes, its green and olivaceous tints closely matching in color the marsh grasses in which it made its home. The ground beneath was often
overflowed at high tide and offered a retreat *Owing to the large number of types on hand speci- mens will be sent, for the accommodation of other students of the family, to a number of collections in various parts of the country, as follows :- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass. Mr. S. H. Scudder, Cambridge, Mass.
Mr. Samuel Henshaw, Cambridge, Mass.
Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
American Entomological Society, Philadelphia, Pa. National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Mr. W. S. Blatchley, Terre Haute, Ind.
State Experiment Station, St. Anthony Park, Minn. University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb.
Prof. Lawrence Bruner, Lincoln, Neb.
Leland Stanford, Jr., University, Palo Alto, Cal. Entomological Society of Ontario, London, Canada. National Museum, Ottawa, Canada.
to myriads of fiddler-crabs, being much
wetter and of a wholly different character from the situations frequented by macdi$en- nis and aeqnafis.
As has been stated this species closely
approaches macu/z"pennis. Some of the
brown females bear a superficial resemblance to long-winged specimens of curifpennis, but the antennae and head readily distinguish them therefrom.
Fig. I, 5'. oh'vaceus, 3. Fig. 2, 5'. oliva- ceus, $. Fig. 3, 5'. maculifennis, 3. Fig. 4, 5. macdtpennts, 9. Fig. 5, S. aequalis, f. Fig. 6, 5. aequalz's, $ ."' Figs. 2, 4, 6, X 2 diameters.
Compared with maculipennis, the vertex is more nearly horizontal, more acute, more angulate with the front in profile; more nar- rowed between the eyes; the depression of - the central foveola further removed
from the
apex. The face is more oblique ; the antennae are shorter, more flattened toward base, and more finely pointed. The disk of the prozona is broader, its sides less incurved, their out- lines formed by straight lines rather than curves, and the metazona very nearly as long as the prozona.
From aequalis also it is readily distin- guished by the characters of the head and vertex mentioned above, while the disk of the pronotum is proportionally much more nar- rowed anteriorly and the metazona much
longer.
In sorting these species I have found it easier, owing to their larger size, to separate the females first.
It seems best to make a few statements




================================================================================

PSYCHE.
here concerning the other two species referred to,-S. macdzj5en?& Scudd. and 5. aequalis Scudd. From my collections gathered dur- ing the last three seasons and notes concern- ing them taken in the field, I am fully con- vinced of the distinctness of these species. - S. aequalis I have found one of the most plentiful~locusts in New England, everywhere common on dry soil, and very variously
colored.^With this species I unite S. bili- neatus Scudd.
S. maculifennis on the other hand I have taken only in Southern New England, where I have found it most plentiful near the coast, preferring sandy soils.
This species also is
very variously colored. Individuals of both species may be wholly either brown or green or any mixture of the two, but green males are the least common of any of the forms and 111 someplaces are exceedingly scarce. Not infrequently specimens show considerable .
rose-red above or may be very largely black- ish-fuscous throughout.
The structural characters presented by the head, vertex, and pronotum are the best
means of separating these species from each other and from olivaceits, but the length and markings of the tegmina are also helpful. It may be of interest in this c,onnection to state that I have examined some of the speci- mens collected by Prof.
S. I. Smith at Nor-
way, Me., and referred to in his paper on the Orthoptera of Maine as S. maculijevnis, and also some in the collection of Cornell Univer- sity collected in New York and referred to in Prof. Comstock's Introduction to Entomology under the same name.
All of these I am dis-
posed to consider as belonging to aepalis. Some of the Norway, Me., specimens show
an unusual length of wing but assuredly are not mactiZz~emzis Scudd.
I have also exam-
ined the types in Mr. Scudder's collection. ADDITIONS TO THE LIST OF BOMBYCES AT POUGHKEEPSIE. BY HARRISON G. DYAR, BOSTON, MASS.
In the August, 1891, number of
Psyche I gave a list of the Bombyces
found in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and in-
cluded four species of Arctia. Further
study has shown that this list must be
increased to seven species. From my
series of A. viryo I have picked out two specimens which are referable to A.
intermedia Str. They are of the form
in which the markings of the fore wings
are practically as in A. viryo, being
less extensive than in Stretch's figure. This form differs from A. $arthenice
Kirby only in size, and may prove to be
a southern race of it. Parthenice occurs not rarely at Plattsburgh, N. Y. ; but I have never met with it in Dutchess
County. The $ genitalia of these forms
do not differ specifically. I have made
drawings from balsam mounts and
cannot find any differences which are
greater than the range of individual
variation. From the same parts in A.
virgo they differ slightly and probably
to a degree which is specific.
Under the term nais in my list were
included all the forms with the pattern
of marking of that species. I am now
satisfied that we have not two species,
nab and decorah, as they stand in
Professor Smith's list, but three well
defined and distinct species, differing in markings of the moth, in the larva ac-
cording to the observations of Prof. G.
H. French and Mr. J. Doll, and in the
structure of the 8 genitalia. In another



================================================================================