F. G. Werner.
Further Notes on North American Epicauta, with New Synonymy Coleop., Meloidae).
Psyche 60:105-113, 1953.

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FURTHER NOTES ON NORTH AMERICAN
EPICAUTA, WITH NEW SYNONYMY
(COLEOP., MELOIDAE)
BY F. G. WERNER
Department of Zoology, University of Vermont The availability of series of several of our species of Epicauta has made possible a more thorough study of the species involved than has been possible before. Some of the more extensive necessary changes are recorded in this paper. Several of the series have been sent for determina- tion and are acknowledged under the species. Most of the rest were collected by Dr. and Mrs. W. L. Nutting and the author during the summers of 194S1 and 1949. Epicauta emarginata Champ.
Epicauta marginata Champion, 1892, Biol. Cent.-Am., Coleop. 4 (2) :426, pi. 19, fig. 24. Vaurie, 1950, American Museum Novitates No. 1477: 30.
L'picauta calcarata Werner, 1944, Psyche 50 (1943) : 70; 1945, Bull. M. C. Z. 95: 477. (NEW SYNONYMY) A long series of this species (over 150 specimens) was collected by the author 15 miles west of Lordsburg, New Mexico, Aug. 30, 1949, on flowers of a grass. Most of the specimens fit the description of calcarata. Some have broader and some have narrower tibial spurs than the holo- type of that species. Two abnormally small individuals (7 mm.) have sparser pubescence and more slender legs and tibia1 spurs. The color of the pubescence varies from ciner- ecus to dull yellow-cinereous, being cinereous in most. Two paratypes of emarginata Champ., kindly loaned by Mr. J. Balfour-Browne of the British Museum, agree per- fectly with some specimens in the Lordsburg series, and differ from the holotype of calcarata only in having slightly more slender posterior tibial spurs. The shape and size This trip. for the purpose of collecting and studying Anihicidac, was n id(- possibli by a gianl-in-aid from the Society of the S~gpm Xi.



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of the anterior and middle tibia1 spurs are precisely the same as in the type of calcarata. The two species are cer- tainly the same.
The known range of emarginata is now from San Lsidro2 in Coahuila to west Texas and southeastern Arizona. I have the following additional records: TEXAS: Marathon, July 9, 1938 (K. U.) ; Culbertson Co., Aug. 30, 1947, D. J. and J. N. Knull (Ohio). NEW MEXICO: Luna Co., Oct. 1 (Ohio). ARIZONA: Douglas, Cochise Co., July 3, 1931, W. W. Jones (Parker) ; near Willcox, Cochise Co., Sept. 3, F. H. Parker, on flowers of Kallstroemia (Parker) ; Dragoon Mts., Cochise Co., Sept. 10, 1947, D. J. and J. N. Knull (Ohio and Werner).
Epicauta ochrea (Lee.)
Lytta ochrea LeConte, 1853, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil. 6 :342.
Epicauta ochrea, Werner, 1945, Bull. M. C. Z. 95: 495. pi. 6, fig. 42. (See for rest of synonymy)
Epicauta moniliformis Dillon, 1950, Ent. News 61 : 103. (NEW SYNONYMY)
Ochrea is probably one of the more abundant species of Epicauta in the area from west Texas to southeastern Ariz- ona, but is nevertheless very poorly represented in collec- tions.
The reasons it is rarely collected would seem to be twofold: first, that most collectors don't know where to look for it, and second, that most collectors who do know don't care to. Specimens can be taken at the bases of leaves of yucca or bear grass (Nolina) almost any time during the summer. One encounter with the leaves of either plant is usually enough. Occasional individuals are seen in the daytime on flowers of yucca. One experience with the speciels on yucca flowers at night convinces me that it is primarily nocturnal, though not "attracted" to light. On July 29, 1948 we camped on the west slope of the Patagonia Mts., east of Nogales, Arizona, at 5330 ft. in the oak-juniper zone. On checking a small stand of a caulescent yucca short- ? The only San Isidro I can find in C~ith~~ili? in i he "Atlas [;~og!.:i $~iw) do 10s Estados Unidos Mexicanos7', Mexico, 1943. ir- npar {lip La9111ii lit Yiesw in the soufliorn part of Ihe state, on tile 1'latc:m Ccntt~t'i.



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19531 Werner - North American Epicauta 107 ly after dark, we found one plant in full bloom, with a swarm of ochrea on the blossoms, feeding on the petals and mating. We knocked down and captured several hundred specimens, losing at least twice that many in the process. They took flight readily. This night one ochrea came to our lighted sheet nearby, the only one I have ever seen at light.
The series taken at this time should provide a fair sample of the species. In it are small and large specimens, as is usual in almost any large sample of Meloidae. All mixed together, and with numerous cross-matings, are entirely ferrugineous to very dark specimens in which the elytra are ferrugineous. I have noticed this variation in color several times in the field.
Mr. Dillon has separated moniliformis on the basis of length of antennal scape, color, and width of body. Two eutopotypical specimens in the Chamberlain Collection are in the same size range as the two moniliformis types (9 and 11 mm.). The smaller specimen, a female, is colored as in Dillon's types ; the larger, a male, is uniformly ferrugine- ous. The lengths of the antennal scapes compare with the moniliformis description, except that in the male the scape might be just perceptibly longer.
The body form, color, and length of antennal scape can be matched in my series from the Patagonia Mts. In the same series are entirely ferrugineous specimens in coitu with dark, moniliformis-colored spedimens. There seems to be a tendency for the antennal scape to be slightly shorter in the smaller specimens. In about a third of the specimens under 12 mm. long the scape of the male antenna just reaches the hind margin of the eye; in the rest it extends beyond slightly. The measurement is a difficult one to make accurately and it often varies with the position or amount of extension of the antennae. I can see no difference in width of body in this long series or in the rest of the speci- mens in my collection. Apparent difference can be traced to amount of shrinkage of dried specimens, chance overlap of the elytra or amount of distension of the abdomen. My Patagonia Mts. series shows a considerable size range, from 7 to 18 mm., with a mean length of about 14 mm.



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108 Psyche [September
Dark specimens are more frequent among the smaller speci- mens but occur also among the larger.
It is my opinion that Mr. Dillon has relied too heavily on exact measurement of variable characters in distinguish- ing monilifomis. One of the difficulties of taxonomic work with the Meloidae is the rather large amount of variation in size and correlated variation in proportions, or in ex- pression of secondary sexual clharacters. Epicauta fallax Horn
Epicauta fallax Horn, 1885, Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. 12: 111. Werner, 1945, Bull. M. C. Z. 95: 450.
mcauta ensiformis Werner, 1944, Psyche 50 (1943) : 68 ; 1945, op. cit.:462. (NEW SYNONYMY)
Dr. J. W. MacSwain has sent a series of fallax, from Patterson, Stanislaus Co., California, taken May 13 to June 4. 1948, by sweeping alfalfa. This series provides a much better sample of the species than was available in 1945. On rechecking the small series from Independence, Cali- fornia that was used in my 1945 paper I find that all of the specimens are females. The only information I had on the male was a set of notes on the type in the Horn Gollection. The male differs from the female mainly in the antennae, which are long and almost ensiform. The following descrip- tion of the male antennae, taken from a Patterson speci- men, should be added to my earlier description. Antennae 2 I, 3 as long as an anterior tibia, reaching basal fourth of elytra. Segment I moderately slender, reaching 1/3 across the eye; I1 small, moderately stout; I11 1 1/2 as long as I and I/ 8 wider at apex, slightly curved toward the posterior; IV to VII subequal in length and breadth, about 3/4 as long as 111; VIII to X equal in length, atbout 9/10 as lono- as Vll, decreasing gradually in width so that X is about 3/4 as wide as V. Proportions3 of antenna1 segments (to a 'These measurements are used in an effort Lo provide a reasonably c\sic\, it-cord of pioportions of the individual segments. Segment 1 is given first. The numerators represent length, the denominators maximum width. The original measurements were made with an ocular micrometer in a stereoscopic microscope, and are accurate to ca. 40.02 mm. For length of
:I begmelit :I measurement was taken from the construction at ihe base, after the condyle. to the apex.
Tho figures obtained were
converted to




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19531 Werner~ North American Epicauta 109 total length of antenna of 1000 units) : 89/38, 43/33, 124/47, 92/49, 94/54, 91/50, 91/49, 82/49, 89/48, 86/43, 118/38. Segment V is the widest and the antenna tapers gradually toward the apex, segments I11 to X being slightly flattened and obliquely truncated at the apex. The most characteristic feature is the presence of very short, ap- pressed, dark hairs on the underside of segments I11 to XI. These are directed perpendicularly to the axis and point to the midline of the antenna from each side. They can be
seen only with fair magnification and proper illumination. At low magnification the surface of the underside of the antenna appears glabrous and roughened ; the upperside has mroderately dense, suberect pubescence.
The presence of these appressed hairs on the underside of the male antenna distinguishes this species from all others in our fauna, except E. ensiformis. On re-checking the type specimens I feel that ensiformis is based on char- acters that can be extremely unsafe, the absolute length of the antennae and the width of the segments. The ratio of the lengths of antenna1 segments seems to provide a reas- onably reliable criterion for species separation. But there is no difference in this ratio in the two. In ensiformis there seems to be mainly an exaggeration of the width and a very slight exaggeration of the length of the intermediate segments, to produce an ensiform antenna from the antenna of a normal fallax male. The types of ensiformis are like the fallax series in all other details. From experience with other species of Epicauta I am inclined to regard ensiformis as a synonym of falla,x and fully expect that more extensive series will show a gradation 'between the two. what Ihcy would be if Ihe lotsil aniennal length, miulo 111) of t lio to1 ;I] of 1 he indix idiml lengths, were 10 mm. and tlic figures reprewni ed 0.01 nun. Flie t,otal of the lengths as given is 1000&3. the error result,ing from rounding off anything under 0.01 nun. It is hoped lhat this systcm of wonl ling i~~~~asuremoiits will prose suprrior lo a ftegmcnt-by-&egn~cnt comparison. where errors accumulate an one progresses. It IS alw hoped 1 hat 1 h~ ant ennae of differ~nl speciw will I)(> more easily coinpaicd, P~TICC ill would l)c converted to a standard 10 nnn. length. The figiire.i must not be t;iI;cn ;LS enlir(>ly diagnostic, however. They a i ~ lo h~ coiisirl(-roil I nyre,'-enting the ;inirmn;ie of :i single ('iypical" specimen.



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110 Psyche
[September
Epicauta diversipubescens Mayd.
Epicuutu diversipubescens Maydell, 1934, Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. 60 : 333. Werner, 1945, Bull. M. C. Z. 95: 487. Mr. H. B. Leech of the Calif'ornia Academy of Sciences has pointed out to me that the Leng Collection of Meloidae contains three specimens bearing the locality labels of May- dell's first three specimens and that each bears a red "TYPE" label, probably put on by Maydell. I find from my notes that the specimen in the U. S. N. M. which I had thought to be the holotype in 1945 was without locality label. This evidence supports Mr. Leech's contention that I saw one of the paratypes and that the holotype is now in the California Academy. This specimen seems to be a male, from Mr. Leech's description, and is further distinguished by the lack of all but the two basal segments of the left antenna and in having- a hole eaten out of one side of the abdomen.
Epicauta jimenezi Dug&
Epicanta jimenezi Dug&, 1889, Anales del Museo Michoa- cano 2: 73. Champion, 1892, Biol. Cent.-Am., Coleop. 4 (2) : 417. Vaurie, 1950, American Museum Novitates No. 1477 :23.
Epicauta nigropilosa Maydell, 1934, Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. 60 : 332. (NEW SYNONYMY)
Maydell seems to have been misled by Dug&' description of this insect, which was black, with the "Elitros grandes, de forma normal, granulosos y pubescentes, ferruginwo- oscuro con bonitos reflejos color de purpura." A specimen in the Institute de Biologia, Mexico, D. F., is labeled jimen- ezi E. Dug& and bears a pin label "Guadalajara". This is almost certainly one of Dug&' type specimens. Maydell's type specimen, one of a series well distributed in collections, is certainly a specimen of jimenezi, one of the most distinct of the genus in Mexico. The "purple" reflections on the elytra are equally well seen in the jimenezi type or in nigro- pilosa eutopotypes, the color being produced by sparse black pubescence over rufo-testaceous background, much as the rufous pubescence over a black background produces the "purple" of purpurea.




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IS?~~:J I Werner- North American Epiccwta Ill The species is discussed here because certain specimens from southern Arizona appear to be assignable to it. These specimens from Arizona do not agree completely with a series from Guadalajara, differinlg mainly in the color of the elytra. The species is redescribed on the basis of a male specimen from Guadalajara; following the rede~~cription a comparison is made with the Arizona specimens. Black, the elytra rufo-testaceous, but with short black pubescence that darkens the color. Length 22 mm.; width across base of elytra 6.5 mm. Head subquadrate, as broad an long to apex of clypeus; surface densely punctured except along" a narrow midline, opaque because of deep microre- tirulation. Antenna1 calluses not evident, being marked only by the slightly sparser, irregular punctures. Pubes- c-~iee moderately dense but short, black, decumbent except along the lateral margins, where it is erect and longer. Eyes moderately narrow, 0.45 as broad as long, not very promin- enl. Antennae slender, 2.7 as long as an anterior tibia, 12 mm. long". Segment I moderately slender, reaching 2/3 across the eye, almost parallel-sided; I1 short; I11 and fol- lowing- slender, slightly flattened, all but XI slightly wider at apex than at base. Proportions of segments (to total length of 1000 units) : 108/42, 51/29, 128/33, 101/37, 98,137, 93/35, 93/33, 88/33, 79/30, 75/29, 93/27. Maxillary palpi of male slightly enlarged and flattened, glabrous be- neath ; labial palpi just perceptibly enlarged, also glabrous beneath.
Pronotum subquadrate, just perceptibly broader than long. Surface densely punctured, with microreticulation as on head, and with short, subdecumbent to erect pubescence. Median impressed line distinct on middle of disc; median area depressed toward base. Scutellum black. Elytra rufo- testaceous, more shallowly and sparsely punctured than the pronoturn but equally opaque. Pubescence black, short, de- cumbent, moderately sparse but giving a darker tinge to the color of the elytra. Anterior tibia1 spurs slender, straight in both sexes. Male anterior tarsi with a dense flat pad, broadened particularly on the first segment, decreas- ing gradually in width to segment 4. The pad of segment 3 of the male is 1.9 as long as in a female of comparable size. and 1.7 as wide. In the female the pad is not as dense



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Psyche
or as flat as in the male and is of almost uniform width on segments 1 to 4. Posterior tibia1 spurs slender, sticklike, the outer shorter, Underside entirely black. The three Arizona specimens before me are 18, 20 and 21 rom, long and are of the same proportions as the Guadala- jara specimens. They differ only in having the elytra dark chocolate brown, made to appear almost black by the black pubescence. Three specimens from Champion's series are also available, through the courtesy of Mr. J. Balfour- Erowne of the British Museum. Two are from Canelas and one from Ventanas, in Durango. These, and one specimen collected by myself in Tepic, Nayarit, have the elytral color intermediate between the Guadalajara and the Arizona specimens. For this reason I believe it would be preferable to postulate a North-South cline in elytra! color, rather than subspecific relationship.
The species in our fauna that Arizona jimenezi speci- mens mc-st closely resemble is corvina (Lee.). They differ in being opaque rather than slightly shiny and in having the elytra a bit narrower. The greater opacity is caused by the denser punctures and particularly by the deeper micro- reticulation. The middle and hind tibiae of jimenezi males are almost straight, as in the female, while in corvina males they are slightly flattened, broader and more bowed than in the female. The anterior tarsal pads of the male of corvina are denser, broader and flatter than in the female but the pad on segment 1 is shorter than in the male of jimenezi, being only about 1.5 as long as in the female of its own species. The two species are otherwise so similar that they must be very closely related. Arizona specimens will key to corvh in my 1945 key but can be distinguished by the characters given above.
Type locality : Guadalajara, Jalisco, MEXICO, (of n.igrft- pilosa Mayd.: same locality, Aug. 17, 1903, McCIendon). Additional records: MEXICO: 1, Tepic, Nayarit, July 22, 1952, F. W. & F. G. Werner, on flowers of a Composite (FW) ; Ventanas, Durango, Forrer; and Canelas, Dur- rango, Becker (BMNH). ARIZONA : 1 male, Patagonia, July 4, 1929, F. W. Nnneiamacher Colt. (CNlHM) ; 1 fe- male, W. slope of Patagonia Mts. on Lochiel Road. St. Cruz Co., 5330 ft. in oak-juniper zone, July 28, 1948, W.



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1,9531 Werner - North American Epicauta 113 L. Nutting & F. G. Werner (FW) ; 1 female, Tumacacori Mts., July 22, 1940, D. J. & J. N. Knull (Parker). Epkauta languida (Horn)
Macrobasis languida Horn, 1895, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. (2) 5: 252.
Epicauta languida, Werner, 1945, Bull. M. C. Z. 95: 424, 501.
The California Academy of Sciences has a small series of this species, as well as the holotype. Below is a short redescription, based on notes taken on the holotype (No. 154), seen in 1946, and checked at that time with the more recent specimens. The species should be left in my group A, in which the male does not have a row of stout apical teeth on the metatibia, and should be placed near excors and tenuilineata.
Color luteous, with the antennae brown. Pubescence tan- nish cinereous, depressed. Elytra with humeral and scutel- lar dark markings. Head narrowly ovate, the surface dense- ly punctured, with the intervals punctulate. Median im- pressed line fine, distinct down to the level of the hind margin of the eyes. Antenna1 calluses denuded, smooth, of moderate size and only slightly raised. Eyes transverse, moderately narrow, emarginate. Male antennae 3 1/2 as long as an anterior tibia. Segment I flat, straight, reaching a irnost to occiput; I1 almost as long as I, flattened, slightly curved; I11 short, 1/3 as long as 11, 2/3 as long as IV; IV the largest of the succeeding segments, rest just slightly e-twrter, slender, slightly flattened. Female antennae with segment I reaching hind margin of the eye; I1 almost as long as I; I11 apprloximately 1/2 as long as 11; IV and fol- lowing equal, almost as long as 11. Pronotum campanuli- fqrrn, 1/4 longer than broad; median impressed line dis- tiiicl from 1/4 from base to 1/3 from apex; a prominent impression at middle of base. Anterior tibiae of male with t~/ o spurs, the inner slightly the 'shorter ; male anterior tar- si not modified. Posterior tibia1 spurs spiniform, only very slightly broadened. Underside not marked. Legs marked as in polingi Werner.
Distribution : BAJA CALIFORNIA : Beside the holotype from 83ti Jose del Cabo there are specimens in the California



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Oct. 18. It is thus
of the peninsula.
.
Academy of Sciences collected by Michelbacher and Ross, from 10 mi. N.W. of LaPaz, Oct. 6, 1941 ; Arroyo Seco, Oct. 6 ; San Venancio, Oct. 8 ; and Agua Caliente, Cape Region. far known only from the southern part
NEW ENGLAND RECORDS OF ULULODES CURRIE (NECKOP- TERA : ASCALAPHIDAE) . - There are few records of the two indigenous species of Uhilodes from the northeastern corner of the United States. The genus is not mentioned in Procter's Biological Survey of the Mount Desert Region [Maine], Part VII, 1946, nor is it recorded by Johnson in his Insects of Nantucket, 1930, or by Britton in the C31eck- List of the Insects of Connecticut, 1920 and 1938. There is only one citation in Leonard's List of the Insects of Yew York, 1926; and this is of U. qtiacl~ipunctata from Staten Island, in the extreme southeast. Records of both species are more plentiful in Smith's Insects of New Jersey. 1910, and Brimley's Insects of North Carolina, 1938 ; the former work citing two localities for U. hgalina and five for U.
madripzinctutu, and the latter, four and two localities for these species, respectively.
Inasmuch as they represent extensions of the known ranges of both species, the following records from the author's collections are presented herewith, even though lacking such desirable data as precise locality and year of collection : Ululodes hyalina Latr., Marthas Vineyard, Mas- sachusetts, 19 July, 1 specimen at light. Uldodes quadri- punctata Burm., Marthas Vineyard, Mass., 2 August, 1 specimen at light; New London, Connecticut, July-August. 1948, 1 specimen. In all cases, poor condition precludes de- termination of sex of these specimens. The author will gratefully receive any records or specimens of Ululocles from the northeastern United States. - George H. Beatty, 111, Plumsteadville, Pennsylvania.




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