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BULLETIN
OF THE
CALIFORNIA
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
VOLXJMK I I
(Nos. 5-8.)
BAN FEANCISCO:
1887.
/!/■
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Becker, George F. The Wasboe Rocks 93
Bryant, Walter E. Additions to the Ornithology of Guadalupe Island . 269
Nest and Eggs of the Evening Grosbeak 449
A New Subspecies of Petrel from Guadalupe Island 450
Unusual Nesting Sites. 1 451
Casey, Thomas L, Kevisiou of the California Species of Lithocharis
and Allied Genera 1
Descriptive Notices of North American Coleoptera. I, Plate?.. 157 On some New North American Pselaphidae. Plate 16 455
Comstock, George C. Provisional Value of the Latitude of the Lick
Observatory 121
Cooper, J. G. West Coast Pulmonata; Fossil and Living. 1 Map. . 355, 497 Corrections to Fossil and Sub-Fossil Land Shells in Vol. 1 376
Curran, Mary K. Priority of Dr. Kellogg's Genus Marah over Megar-
rhiza Torr 521
Davidson, George. Notes on Saturn. Plate 1 73
Transits of the II and III Satellites of Jupiter 89
The Annular Solar Eclipse of March 5, 1886 91
Submarine Valleys on the Pacific Coast of the United States 265
Standard Geodetic Data 319
Early Spanish Voyages of Discovery on the Coast of California. 325
Occultations of Stars by the Dark Limb of the Moon 448
Emerson, W. Otto. Ornithological Observations in San Diego County 419
Glassford, W. A. Weather Types on the Pacific Coast. Plates 2, 3, 4, 5. 77
Greene, E. L. Studies in the Botany of California and Parts Adjacent. IV—
1. On some Cichoriaceous Compositae 41
2. Some Species of Euphorbia $ Anisophyllum 56
3. New Polypetalai 59
Studies in the Botany of California and Parts Adjacent. V—
1. Some Genera Which have been Confused Under the
Name Brodiaea 125
2. Miscellaneous Species, New or Noteworthy. Plate 6. . . 144 Studies in the Botany of California and Parts Adjacent. VI . . . 377
IV TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Harkness, H. W. Fnugi of the Pacific Coast. V 487
Le Conte, Joseph. The Flora of the Coast Islands of California in
Kelation to Kecent Changes of Physical Geography 515
Parry, C. C. The Pacific Coast Alders 351
Californian Manzanitas 483
Richter, C. Max. Ocean Currents Contiguous to the Coast of Califor- nia. Plates 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 337
Rivers, J. J, -A. New Species of Californian Coleoptera, with four figures 61 Contributions to the Larval History of Pacific Coast Coleoptera 64
Smith, Rosa. On Tetraodon Setosus, a New Species Allied to Teti'aodon
Meleagris Lacep 155
Wolle, Francis. Desmids of the Pacific Coast 432
Index 525
BULLETIN
CALIFORNIA
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
Vol. 2, No. 5. September, 1886
CONTEiSfTS.
PAGE.
Eevision of the California Species of Lithocharis ancl Allied Genera.
Thos. L. Casey , 1
Studies in the Botanj' of California and Parts Adjacent. IV. Edward
Lee Greene —
1. On Some Chicoriaceous Compositae 41
2. Some Species of Euphorbia § Anisophyllum 56
3. New Polypetalae 59
A New Species of Calif ornian Coleoptera. J. J. Rivers 61
Contributions to the Larval History of Pacific Coast Coleoptera.
J. J. Rivers 64
Notes on Saturn. Geo. Davidson 73
Weather Types on the Pacific Coast.. W. A. Glassford 77
Transits of the II and III Satellites of Jupiter, Geo. Davidson 89
The Annular Solar Eclipse of March 5, 1836. Geo. Davidson 91
ISSUED SEPTEMBER 3d, IBBB.
BULLETIN. |u«B_B^^P'^ 7
No. 5. ''•>^^^TT^^^^<^
California Academy of Sciences.
Revision of the Californian Species of LITHOCHARIS and Allied Genera.
BY THOS. L. CASEY. Read Jan. 4th, 1886.
The species assignable to Lithocliaris and allied genera are extremely abundant in California and are also very numer- ous individually, so that a review of the forms occurring here, although not so desirable as a general revision of the North American species, is, at the same time, amply suffi- cient to form a systematic basis upon which to found such an extended work, and probably loses little of what impor- tance it may possess from the omission of species occurring east of the Kocky Mountains, as these are comparatively few in number and not as yet sufficiently collected.
Belonging to the region here considered, there are de- scribed below twenty-five species, most of which are rather local in habitat, although a few have an extended range. In regard to their favorite haunts, little is to be said; they fre- quent the margins of ponds and water-courses, and are found amongst decaying vegetable matter, roots of grasses, etc., in stony localities, although more abundant in the deep ra- vines so characteristic of the Coast Mountains. I have occasionally found particular spots of very limited extent in
1— Bull. Cal. Acad. Sci. II. 5, Printed January 27, 1886,
^ CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
these ravines, wliere they exist in enormons profusion, not only individually, but in species indiscriminately mingled; such for instance was a small area of precipitous rocks cov- ered with mould, moss and thin grass, in the deep ravine at Gilroy Springs, Santa Clara County, where a small trickling stream f i-om one of the sulphurous soda-springs enters the creek below. Here I obtained hundreds of specimens of seven distinct species; associated with them were an equal multitude of Steni represented by several species. This concentration of insect life, which is one of the peculiarities of faunal distribution in the Pacific regions, is to be accounted for in a measure by the nature of the climate, the long hot summers drying and baking the surface of the ground, and driving all species, except the comparatively few especially constituted to withstand such conditions, to the moist and secluded localities above mentioned.
The stud}^ and proper classification of these varied forms is a matter of considerable, although by no means of insu- perable difficulty, there being one important characteristic, which is of very great aid to the investigator; this is the facility with which they may be resolved into perfectly defi- nite, and so far as the material collected will allow of judg- ment— abruptly limited generic subdivisions. The principal difficulty, therefore, consists in the proper difierentiation of the species composing these groups, and which are often very closely allied; but even here the difficulty is partially superficial, as when these closely allied forms are separated and carefully studied, they are found to possess very little variability, and the individuals of the several species appear to be unusually uniform throughout extended series.
The genera here considered possess certain characters in common, among which may be mentioned the rather slen- der maxillary i^alpi with the third joint very moderately swollen and the fourth minute, subulate and oblique, but distinctly visible; the antenniTe also are singularly uniform in structure throughout, being slender — or very slightly ro-
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 3
bust in Metaxyoclonta — and scarcely perceptibly incrassate. The nftli abdominal segment is almost invariably equal in length to the third and fourth together. The labrum differs throughout, and is, in conjunction with the relative length of the first joint of the posterior tarsi, made the principal basis of generic subdivision. It is singular, however, and a strong proof of the validity of the genera, that these two fundamental characters are accompanied by other very rad- ical differences in many of the most important parts of the body, as well as in completely radical differences in the na- ture of the male sexual modifications; these are described in the table of genera given below.
The genera Stilicus, Scopseus, Orus, etc., should pre- cede those here given in a systematic arrangement of the Psederi, and are distinguished from them by tlieii' very strongly dilated third maxillary palpal joint.
San Francisco, Jan. 1st, 18S6.
Note 1.— In estimating the order of the abdominal segments in the follow- ing pages, the numbers refer to visible segments only.
Note 2. — Separate diaguoses of the various species are not given at present. as this paper is simply intended as the forerunner of a more general one upon onr Paederini.
GENERIC DEFINITIONS.
Head slightly narrower than the prothorax, sides parallel; eyes moderate in size; labrum 4-dentate, the teeth being rather prominent, acute and nearly equi-distant. Prothorax quadrate; sides parallel or very slightly narrowed from apex to base. Elytra much longer than the prothorax. First joint of the posterior tarsi as long as the next two together, or nearly so. Male sex- ual characters very simple; fifth segment not modified, sixth narrow, with a
small simple sinuation at the apex G-enus Caloderma.
Pronotum longitudinally rugulose Species 1 — 3.
Pronotum finely and generally very densely punctate Species 4 — 8.
Head rather large, slightly wider than the prothorax; eyes, very small; la- bmm with a very small deep median emargination, slightly wider than deep, immediately adjoining which there are on each side two approximate and ex- ceedingly minute acute teeth. Prothorax with the sides convergent pos-
4 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
teriorly. Elytra equal in length to the pronotum. First joint of the posterior tarsi fully as long as the next two together, Male sexual characters very sim- ple; fifth segment not modified, sixth narrow with a very small triangular
emargination at the apex (bilobed) Genus Oligopterus..
Species 9.
Head large, distinctly longer and slightly wider than the prothorax, sub- triangular, very minutely punctate; eyes extremely small, round, on the sides before the middle; labrum with two short, or long and slender acute teeth, the edge adjoining them exteriorly being minutely and abruptly sin- uate, and between them narrowly and rather deeply emarginate. Prothorax quadrate or slightly wider than long; sides moderately convergent poster- iorly. Elytra as long as or very slightly longer than the pronotum. First joint of the ]posterior tarsi much shorter than the next two together. Male sexual characters rather simple; fifth segment very slightly modified, sixth
deeply and evenly sinuate Genus Lithocharis, Group A.
Species 10 — 13.
Head variable, as wide as or slightly wider than the prothorax, sides par- allel, punctuation variable; eyes moderate in size; labrum with two small acute triangular teeth, the edge adjoining them exteriorly being minutely sinuate, and between them rather deeply emarginate. Prothorax finely and sparsely punctate with a rather broad median impunctate area; sides parallel or very feebly convergent posteriorly^. Elytra much longer than the prono- tum. First joint of the posterior tarsi generally but slightly longer than the second. Male sexual modification of the fifth segment very complex, the sixth being rather deeply and roundly emarginate.
Genus Lithocharis, Group B. Prothorax not longer than wide.
Posterior angles of the head moderately broadly or rather narrowly rounded.
Head finely and densely punctate Species 14
Head much more sparsely punctate.
Sides of pronotum distinctly convergent x)Osteriorly Species 15
Sides of pronotum parallel or extremely feebly con- vergent posteriorly Species 16 — 19
Posterior angles of the head very broadly rounded Species 20
Prothorax distinctly longer tbbn wide Species 21 — 23
Head rather small, sub-triangular, veiy minutely alutaceous; eyes very large, coarsely granulate; labrum rather large, truncate at apex, rounded and narrowly explanate at the sides, broadly and very feebly sinuate in the mid- dle, and having a single short, very small, acute median tooth which is slightly dorsal. Prothorax scarcely as long as wide; sides nearly j)arallel. Elytra very slightly longer than wide, distinctly longer than the prothorax. First joint of the posterior tarsi, much shorter than the next two together. Male sexual modification of the fifth segment simple, of the sixth complex.
Genus Metaxyodonta. Species 24 — 25.
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
CALODERMA u. gen.
The species of this genus present a singularly homoge- neous appearance, they being distinguished by their very narrow elongate form, small heads with parallel sides, quad- rate prothorax and long narrow parallel elytra; the abdom- inal sculpture is also a distinguishing feature, the transverse wavy lines of minute sub-asperate punctures being peculiar to them, although having a tendency to reappear in the genus Metaxyodonta.
1 — C. rUffOSUm ^- sp. — Slender, moderately convex; sides parallel; color throngliout piceous; pubescence extremely sparse and scarcely noticeable upon the head and prothorax, very fine, extremely dense and sericeous on the elytra and abdomen, pale ochreous in color and very conspicuous; under surface and legs piceous-brown, the latter slightly paler, tarsi -pale brown; antennae fuscous throughout. Head short and robust, scarcely longer than wide; sides parallel, very feebly arcuate; base transversely truncate, basal angles distinctly rounded; surface feebly and evenly convex, finel}'- and ex- tremely densely punctate throughout, slightly more sparsely so between the antennae; punctures round, shallow and sub-annular; eyes at much more than their own length from the basal angles, moderately prominent; antennae slender, nearly as long as the head and prothorax together, scarcely percep- tibly incrassate; basal joint as long as the next two together, second very slightly shorter and more robust than the third, tenth slightly longer than wide; maxillary jDalpi piceous-black; labrum with four equal acute triangu- lar teeth, sides broadly and rouudlj' lobed. Prothorax about as long as and slightly wider than the head; sides parallel and feebly arcuate; base strongly arcuate; apex broadly and much less strongly so; apical angles distinctly rounded, basal very broadly so; apex with a very small feeble sinuation in the middle; disk very slightly longer than wide, transversely, moderately and evenlj'' convex, very minutely, rather strongly and evenly rugulose; rugulae sinuous and interrujpted; having a very narrow and imperfect median line toward base. Elytra at base very slightly wider than the pronotum; sides parallel and feebly arcuate posteriorly; together broadly, triangularly and feebly emarginate behind; disk, transversely and moderately convex, one-third longer than wide, one-half longer than the prothorax, feebly im- pressed along the suture, which is margined with a slightly elevated line, extremely minutely, evenly and densely punctate; punctures asperate and more sparse near the apices. Abdomen scarcely perceptibly paler toward tip, transversely strigate with fine wavy lines of extremely minute asperities. Legs moderate; anterior tarsi feebly dilated, first joint of the posterior as long as the next two together. Length 3.7-4.2 mm.
6 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
Described from the male, in which the sixth segment is narrow and evenly sinuate at the ^tip, the sinns being evenly rounded and about four times as wide as deep. The species is one of the most distinct of this portion of the genus, and is widely extended in distribution throughout the middle coast region; it is distinguishable at once by its very dense sculpture, dark color and very dense pubescence of the pos- terior portions of the body.
2— C. COntinens n. sp.— Moderately robust, rather depressed; head and abdomen black, the latter paler and brownish-ferruginous at apex; prothorax and elytra dark castaneous-brown, the latter slightly the paler; under surface paler, castaneous; legs brownish-flavate; antennae rufo-fuscous throughout; maxillary palpi piceous-black; head and pronotum almost glabrous, having a few erect black setse; elytra and abdomen finely and moderately densely pub- escent. Head moderate, slightly longer than wide; sides parallel and feebly arcuate; base truncate, basal angles distinctly rounded; eyes small, moder- ately prominent, in great part visible from above, one and one-half times their own length from the base; occiput moderately convex, front flat an- teriorly; punctures fine, round, shallow, sub-annular and extremely dense; antenna nearly as long as the head and prothorax together, slender, not in- crassate; basal joint as long as the next two together, second much shorter and more oval than the third, tenth longer than wide. Prothorax large, nearly as long as and very slightly wider than the head; sides just visibly convergent from apex to base and very feebly arcuate; base broadly arcuate, sub- truncate in the middle; apex broadly arcuate, as strongly so as the base, narrowly and very feebly emarginate in the middle; apical angles narrowly but distinctly rounded, basal more broadly so; disk transversely and moder- ately convex, quadrate, very finely, evenly and strongly rugulose, the very fine median line being entirely obsolete in the apical half. Elytra at base just visibly wider than the pronotum; sides parallel, very feebly arcuate pos- teriorly; together broadly and just visibly incurvate at the apex; disk trans- versely and feebly convex, very feebly impressed aloug the suture which is very slightly and narrowly elevated, one-fourth longer than wide, slightly less than one-half longer than the pronotum, very minutely densely and evenly punctate; punctures sub-asperate and slightly sparser near the apices. ^46- domen transversely stngate with very fine wavy lines of minute closely- placed asperities. Legs moderate; anterior tarsi very feebly swollen; first four joints of the posterior decreasing uniformly and very rapidly in length, first slightly shorter than the next two together, fourth very slightly longer than wide; claws very small. Length 3.4 mm.
Contra Costa Co., 2; Napa Co., 1; San Diego, 2.
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 7
This species, although closely allied to the preceding, is distinguishable from it by its smaller size, more robust form, larger prothorax, coloration of the body, paler abdom- inal apex, less conspicuous pubescence and shorter first joint of the posterior tarsi. It is described from the male, the sixth segment being sinuate at apex; the sinus is rather more acutely rounded than in rugosum, and is about four times as wide as deep. The structure of the labrum is sim- ilar to that of ricgosuni.
3 — C. angulatuni i^- sp. — Form slender, moderately convex; color tlirough- out black, legs piceous-black, antennae and palpi same, tarsi piceo-testaceous; pubescence of the elytra and abdomen moderately dense, very fine, recum- bent, fulvous in color, sparser and coarser anteriorly except at the sides of the head behind the eyes. Head moderate, slightly longer than wide; sides parallel and feebly arcuate; base truncate, angles distinctly rounded; surface moderately convex, depressed anteriorly, very finely and densely punctate; antennae very slender, nearly as long as the head and prothorax together; basal joint scarcely as long as the next two combined, second and third equal in length, the former scarcely preceptibly more oval, tenth as wide as long. Prothorax quadrate; sides just perceptibly convergent posteriorly and nearly straight; base broadly, rather strongly and nearly evenly arcuate, much more strongly so than the apex, which is broadly aud rather feebly arcuate and feebly sinu- ate in the middle; apical angles slightly obtuse and scarcely perceptibly rounded, basal very broadly rounded; disk scarcely wider than the head, moderately convex, very finely, rather strongly and irregularly rugulose; median line rather obsolete. Elytra at base very slightly wider than the head; sides parallel and feebly arcuate; together broadly, triangularly and distinctly emarginate behind; disk transversely and very moderately convex, very feebly impressed along the suture toward b\se, not impressed toward the apex, scarcely one-third longer than wide, about one-third longer than the prothorax, extremely minutely, densely and evenly punctate; punctures asperate and not sparser near the apex. Abdomen having the sixth and the apex of the fifth segments very slightly paler, piceo-testaceous; surface transversely and finely strigate in wavy and very broken rows of minute and closely-placed asperities. Legrs moderate; first joint of the posterior tarsi slightly shorter than the next two together. Length 3.5 mm.
San Mateo Co., 3 (Mr. Fuchs).
Described from the male; the sixth segment is sinuate at apex, the sinus being very broadly rounded and about six times as wide as deep.
8 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
This sj)ecies may be distinguislied by its black color, dark legs and coarse pubescence of the head, but especially by the shape of the prothorax, in which the anterior angles are not distinctly rounded.
4— C. mobile ^- sp. — Eather slender, black tliroiigliout, apices of the elytra just visibly paler, fuscous; legs dark brown, castaneous, tarsi testaceous; an- tennas piceous, fuscous toward tip; pubescence of the elytra and abdomen veiy fiine, short and extremely dense, sericeous, fulvous, that of the head and pronotum excessively fine, rather sparse, dark piceo-cinereous and scarcely visible. Head moderate; sides parallel and feebly arcuate; base truncate, angles rather broadly rounded; surface moderately convex, rather coarsely and denselj^ punctate, more finely so behind, with a narrow median impunc- tate line; punctures round, feeble; between the antennas there are two rather large setigerous punctures; Inbrum with four small, robust, triangular teeth; autennjB distinctlj^ shorter than the head and prothorax together, very feebly incra-^sate, rather slender; basal joint as long as the next two together, sec- ond scarcely two-thirds as long as the third and equal in length to the fourth, tenth slightly longer than wide. Prothorax nearlj^ quadrate; sides parallel and distinctlj^ arcuate; base and apex evenly, rather strongly, and nearly equalh" arcuate, the latter with a small feeble median sinuation; apical angles rather broadly rounded, basal very broadly so; disk transversely and rather feeblj^ convex, very slightly wider than the head, evenly finely and extremely densely punctate; x^unctures very feebly impressed, almost contiguous; me- dian line almost obsolete. Elytra at base just perceptibly wider than the pronotum; sides very feebly divergent and feebly arcuate; together broadly, evenly and rather strongly sinuate at apex; disk transversely and moderately convex, one-fourth longer than M'ide, nearly one-half longer than the prono- tum, feebly impressed on either side of the slightly elevated suture, rather finely and very densely punctate; punctures slightly asperate and much finer near the apex. Abdomen nearly as wide as the elytra; sides of the fifth seg- ment feebl}'' convergent toward tip; surface transversely strigate in close wavy lines of minute asperities; each segment having one or two transverse rows of four to six very small setigerous punctures upon both the dorsal and ventral disks. Legs slender; first joint of the posterior tarsi slightly shorter than the next two together, as long as the last two, one-half longer than the second. Length 4.0 mm.
Monterey Co.. 2. ?
Described from the female in which the sixth segment is very evenly rounded behind. There are many erect bristling setce on the abdomen toward tip; the transverse series of dis- cal punctures upon the abdomen are characteristic of this
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 9
entire genus, but are more conspicuous in those species hav- ing very dense sericeous abdominal pubescence. This spe- cies is YSYy distinct being distinguished by its size and very dense punctuation, also by the rather more transversely oval pronotum with broadl}^ rounded anterior angles.
5— C. COntractum. n, sp.— Slender, black; elytra slightly paler, piceons, slightly rufous at the apices; legs pale brownish-testaceous, tarsi paler, brownish-flavate; antennae dark rufo-testaceous throughout; maxillary palpi piceous-brown; entire under surface same; pubescence of the elj^tra mode- rately dense, very short and fine, that of the abdomen much longer, coarser and denser, that of the head and pronotum excessively fine, rather sparse and not conspicuous. Head moderate; sides extremely feebly convergent X^osteriorly and very slightly arcuate; base truncate, angles narrowly rounded; surface slightly longer than wide, moderately convex, rather coarsely and somewhat sparsely punctate, with a narrow median impuuctate line; two setig- erous punctures at the apical margin of the epistom.a large and prominent; an- tennae slender, nearly as long as the head and prothorax together; basal joint scarcely as long as the next two together, second two-thirds as long as the third and slightly longer than the fourth, tenth about as long as wide, eleventh ovoidal, acuminate, slightly shorter than the preceding two com- bined. Prothorax quadrate, distinctly wider than the head; sides j)arallel and distinctly arcuate; base rather broadly and strongly arcuate, slightly more strongly so than the apex; apical angles rather narrowly rounded, basal very broadly so; disk transversely and moderately convex ; median line obsolete, or very nearly so; xerj finely, feebly and densely punctate; punctures very feebly impressed and separated by their own widths. Elytra at base very slightly wider than the in'onotum; sides nearly parallel, feebly arcuate, dis- tinctly more strongly so near the apices; together broadly, angularly and very feebly emarginate at the apex; disk convex and declivous at the sides, dej)ressed in the middle, feebly impressed on either side of the feebly elevated suture, scarcely one-fourth longer than wide, one-third longer than the pro- thorax, rather coarsely and densely punctate; punctures much finer and more asperate near the &pex. Abdomen slightlj^ narrower than the elytra; sides parallel; sides of the fifth segment strongly convergent posteriorly; surface rather convex, transversely strigate in very disconnected wavy lines of moderately coarse asperities. Legs slender; first joint of the posterior tarsi nearly as long as the next two together. Length 3.2-3.6 mm.
Santa Clara Co., 9; Monterey Co., 4; Humboldt Co., 1.
In the specimen from Humboldt the elytral punctuation is decidedly coarser and denser. The type is a male, the sixth segment being slender and sinuate at apex; the sinus is rather narrowly rounded and about four times as wide as
10 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
deep. Tins species is easily distinguislied from mobile by its smaller size, sparser pubescence and much sparser punc- tuation.
6— C. luculentum n. sp.— Form rather robust, depressed; color black, elytral ai:)ices abruptly paler, rufous; apices of the abdominal segments beneath pale; legs pale reddish-ochreous; antennae uniformly dark rufo-fuscous; palpi piceous; head and pronotum almost glabrous; x>ubescence of the elytra and abdomen very sparse, line, dark piceo-fulvous and not at all conspicuous; integuments very highly polished. Head short and robust, very slightly wider than long; sides parallel and very feebly arcuate; base truncate, angles narrowly rounded; surface moderately convex, rather coarsely and densely punctate at the sides and base, very sparsely so in the middle where there is a rather wide median impunctate art a; inteiantennal area impunctate, two setigerous punctures widely separated and very feeble; antennte slender^ nearly as long as the head and prothorax together, second joint scarcely two- thirds as long as the third and distinctly shorter than the fourth, tenth as wide as long. Prothorax quadrate, very slightly wider than the head; sides very feebly convergent from apex to base; the latter broadly, evenly and rather moderately arcuate; apex with a distinct median sinuation; apical angles somewhat narrowly rounded, basal broadly so; disk moderately con- vex, very finely, rather deeply, evenly and densely punctate; punctures sep- arated by their own widths. Elytra at base very slightly wider than the pronotum; sides just visibly divergent posteriorly and feebly arcuate, dis- tinctly more strongly so behind; together broadlj'- and feebly sinuate at apex; disk one-fourth longer than wide and one-third longer than the pronotum, feebly impressed along the slightly elevated suture except at the apex where the elevation and impressions disappear, rather coarsely, sub-asperately and very densely punctate. Abdomen broad, very slightly narrower than the elytra; border narrow; sides parallel and nearly straight; transversely stri- gate in wavy lines. Legs slender; first joint of the posterior tarsi as long as the next two together, second as long as the third and fourth, slightly shorter than the fifth. Length 3.7 mm.
Lake Co., 3. (Mr. Fuchs.)
Described from the male; the sixth segment is sinuate at apex, the sinus being acutely rounded and but slightly more than three times as wide as deep. This species, although somewhat resembling contractum, may be at once distin- guished by its broader form, much paler elytral apices, highly polished integuments and very sparse pubescence of the elytra and abdomen. The sinus of the sixth segment, although rather acutely rounded as in coniradum, is relatively distinctly deeper.
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 11
7 — C. reductum n. sp.— Slender, black; elytra piceous, paler and distinctly rufous at the apices; femora rather pale castaneons-brown, tibiae and tarsi paler, brownish-flavate; under surface dark castaneous, tip of the abdomen slightly TDaler; antennae dark rufo-testaceous; pubescence of the elytra very short, fine and rather sparse, that of the abdomen much longer, coarser and twice as dense; head and prouotum almost glabrous. Head robust, scarcely longer than wide; sides parallel and nearly straight; base truncate, angles rather broadly rounded; surface rather finely and sparsely punctate, espec- ially toward the middle, where there is a rather broad impunctate line; an- tennae distinctly shorter than the head and prothorax together, somewhat robust; basal joint as long as the nest two together, second very slightly shorter than the third, joints two and four equal in length, fifth slightly shorter. Prothorax quadrate, just visibly wider than the head; sides feebly convergent toward base and very feebly arcuate; base and apex broadly, equally and not strongly arcuate; apical angles rather narrowly rounded, basal very broadly so; disk transversely and rather feebly convex, finely, densely and evenly punctate; punctures rounded, feebly impressed and dis- tant by about their own widths; median line almost entire, very narrow. Elytra at base very slightly wdder than the pronotum; sides nearly parallel and feebly arcuate, more strongly so behind; together broadly, evenly and very feebly sinuate at apex; disk one-fourth longer than wide and one-third longer than the prothorax, narrowly impressed along the feebly elevated suture, except toward tip, where the impression is obsolete, finely, rather densely and sub-asperately punctate; punctures scarcely perceptibly smaller toward the apex. Abdomen distinctly narrower at base than at the fourth segment, slightly narrower than the elytra; sides feebly arcuate; sides of the fifth segment distinctly convergent toward tip; surface transversely and finely strigate in very disconnected wavy lines. Lefjs slender; first joint of the posterior tarsi about as long as the next two together, second as long as the fifth. Length 3.0 mm.
Monterey Co., 5.
This species is distinguished from contradum by its smaller size, shorter and broader head, which is also more sparsely punctate, and by the form of the prothorax, in which the sides are feebly but distinctly convergent from apex to base. The type is a male, the sixth segment being rather broad and sinuate at apex; the sinus is broadly rounded and about four times as wide as deep. In co7i- tractum the sinus is much more acutely rounded, although about equally deep, the sides being more gradually recurved exteriorly.
12 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
8— C. tantillum n- sp. — Very slender; head black; abdomen piceous-black; pronotum and elj'^tra castaueons, the latter slightly paler at tip; leg^ rather pale brownish, tarsi paler, brownish-flavate; antennae uniformly dark rufo- fuscons throughout; pubescence of elytra and abdomen very fine, moderately •sparse and not conspicuous. Head moderate, slightly longer than wide, sides parallel and almost straight; base truncate, angles narrowly rounded; surface moderately convex, rather coarsely and sparselj^ punctate, with a rather wide median impunctate area; antennse slender, short, much shorter than the head and prothorax together; basal joint as long as the next two together, second slightly shorter and more robust than the third, as long as the fourth, Outer joints very slightly wider, tenth as wide as long. Prothorax quadrate, scarcelj^ perceptibly wider than the liead; sides just visibly convergent from ajDex to base and nearly straight; base and apex broadly, equally and rather strongly arcuate; apical angles rather broadly rounded, basal very broadly so; disk transversely and moderately convex, very minutely, feebly, evenly and rather sparsely punctate, with a narrow but entire and rather well-marked median impunctate line; j)unctures very feebly impressed and separated by about three times their own widths; surface feebly alutaceous. Elytra at base very slightly wider than the pronotum; sides parallel and veiy feebly arcuate; together broadly, sub-angularly and moderately sinuate at apex; disk nearly one-third longer than wide, and nearly one-half longer than the pronotum, narrowly impressed along the slightly elevated suture, rather finely, densely and sub-asperately punctate; punctures smaller near the apex. Abdomen very slightly narrowed toward base, nearly as wide as the elytra; surface moder- ately convex, very minutely, sub-asperately, feebly and rather sparsely punc- tate. Legs slender; first joint of the posterior tarsi as long as the next two together, about as long as the fifth; second distinctly shorter than the third and fourth combined. Length 2.8 mm.
Santa Clara, Co., 4.
Described from the male in wliicli tlie sixth segment is sinuate at tip, the sinus being moderately broadly rounded and between three and four times as wide as deep.
This species is at once distinguishable from all the others above described by the abdominal punctuation which is not arranged in very well-defined wavy lines, by the more sparse and minute pronotal punctuation, and by the rather strong dilatation of the joints of the anterior tarsi in the males. It is also the smallest species of the genus.
OLIGOPTERUS n. gen.
The very small species constituting the sole representa- tive of this genus, is very singular and totally distinct in
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. IS*
appearance from those of the preceding group. The head, mstead of being small is rather large and very coarsely punctate, the prothorax being slightly elongate and rather strongly narrowed from apex to base; the elytra are equal in length to the pronotum in the male and slightly shorter in the female, with the sides strongly divergent posteriorly, having the surface depressed and very coarsely punctate.
9—0. CUneicollis n.sp. — Rather slender; head aud abdomen piceous-black; elytra dark blackish-castaueous; pronotum dark rufo-fuscous; legs brown- ish-piceous, tibias slightly paler, tarsi still paler; antenn?e and under surface anteriorly dark rufo-fuscous, the former much paler toward the base and apex; abdomen black, with the extreme apices of the segments paler; head and pronotum nearly glabrous, elytra and abdomen finely and rather densely pubescent; integuments polished. Head very slightly longer than wide; sides parallel and slightly arcuate; base truncate, feebly sinuate in the middle, angles rather broadly rounded; eyes very small, at three times their length from the base; surface rather depressed, coarsely aud rather sparsely punctate, with a very narrow median impunctate line; epistoma rather strongly produced, sides convergent to the apex aud feebly sinuate; apex truncate; antennal tuberculations small and rather prominent; between them there are two small, oblique, impressed fove^e, each having a small setigerous puncture posteriorly; antennaa rather short, scarcely as long as the head and prothorax together; basal joint slightly longer than the next two together, second more robust but scarcely shorter than the third. Prothorax scarcely narrower than the head; sides distintly convergent from apex to base and slightly arcuate; base broadly and feebly arcuate; apex with the sides very stronglj' convergent to the neck, which is one-third as wide as the disk aud broadly and feebly emarginate; anterior angles obtuse and rather broadly rounded, basal equally so; disk transversely and rather strongly convex, slightly longer than wide, rather finely and moderately densely punctate, with a narrow, entire, impunctate median line. Eiijtra at base slightly narrower than the pronotum; sides rather strongly divergent posteriorly and feebly arcaate; together broadly and feebly sinuate at the apex; disk depressed, very slightly longer than wide, as long as the prono- tum, very coarsely, sub-asperately and rather densely punctate. Abdomen at base very slightly narrower than "the elytra; sides very feebly divergent posteriorly and distinctly arcuate; surface minutely, feebly, densely, sub- asperately and irregularly punc'ate. Legs very slender; first joint of the posterior tarsi fully as long as the next two together. Length 2.4-2.6 mm.
San Francisco, 5.
The elytra are, except near the apex, narrowly impressed along the slightly elevated suture. The type is a male, the
14 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
sexual characters being merely a slight emargination at the apex of the sixth segment, slightly wider than deep and not at all rounded, triangular. This species cannot be con- founded with any other liere described; it is the smallest of this group of genera which has been thus far discovered.
LITHOCHARIS Lacord.
Group A.
We have here another group, of four species, remarkably distinct from either of the preceding. The size is larger than in any of the other genera, and the large, sub-triangu- lar, very finely and densely punctate heads with their very minute ej^es, give them a very peculiar appearance which renders them immediately recognizable. The elytra are short, sometimes equal in length to the prothorax and never very much longer. The sides of the prothorax are usually very distinctly convergent from apex to base, and are some- times feebly sinuate in the middle.
10 — L. sinuatOCOllis n. sp.— Form rather slender; elytra and abdomen dark fuscous, the latter paler at tip; head and pronotum slightly paler, dark rufo- testaceous; autenn;t) dark fuscous, paler at the apex; legs rather pale ferru- ginous throughout; pubescence rather sparse. Head rather large, much longer than wide, broadly sinuate at base, angles rather broadlj^ rounded; sides long, very feebly convergent anteriorly and distinctly arcuate; epistoma very broad, moderately produced, apex truncate; surface broadly and moder- ately convex, rather finelj'" and densely punctate, very feebly alutaceous; punctures feebly impressed, distant by neaily twice their own widths; median impunctate area rather narrow; eyes very small at nearly four times their own length from the basb; antenn?B slender, much shorter than the head and prothorax together; basal joint as long as the next two together, second and third sub-equal in length, the former slightly more robust and much more oval, distinctly longer than the fourth, tenth slightl}^ wider than long. Pro- thorax quadrate, very slightly narrower than the head; sides rather strongly convergent posteriori}' throughout and feebly sinuate in the middle; base broadl}' truncate in the middle, arcuate at the sides; apex broadly arcuate, feebly and roundly emarginate in the middle third; anterior angles rather broadly rounded, basal slightly more broadly so; disk moderately convex, finely, rather feebly and sparsely punctate; median line equal throughout the length, moderate in width. Elytra at base very slightly narrower than
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 15
the pronotum; sides moderately strongly divergent and feebly arcuate toward the a-pex; together broadly and feebly sinuate behind; disk about as long as wide; as long as the pronotum, depressed, feeblj'^ impressed throughout near the suture which is feebly elevated, rather coarsely, moderately densely and sub-rugulosely punctate. Abdomen at base very nearly as wide as the elytra; sides just visibly divergent posteriorly and straight; surface very minutely, densely, irregularly, feebly and sub-asperately punctate. Legs long and slen- der; tarsi rather short, fir.^t joint of the posterior much shorter than the next two together, scarcely as long as the fifth, one-third longer than the second; first four joints uniformly decreasing in length. Length 4.6 mm.
Humboldt Co. (Hoopa Val.), 2 ? .
The anterior tarsi are feebly dilated toward base. This species may be readily recognized amongst the large species with short elytra, by its much paler color, slightly coarser and sparser cephalic punctuation, and by the distinctly sin- uate sides of the prothorax.
11 — L. COnverffens n. sp. — Form moderatelj^ robust, black throughout; legs dark piceous-brown, tarsi i)aler, testaceous; antennae fuscous, paler toward the apex; pubescence very fine, rather long, very sparse anteriorly, more dense on the elytra, still denser and more sericeous on the abdomen, l^eac? large, broadly sinuate at base, angles rather broadly rounded; sides long, feebly convergent anteriorly, distinctly and evenly arcuate; eyes very small; epistoma very slightly produced, broad, squarely truncate at apex; surface finely and densely punctate, very feebly alutaceous; j)uuctures rather feebly impressed, distant by scarcely more than their own widths above; median line narrow; antennse one third longer than the head, rather slender, second joint distinctly shorter than the third, very slightly longer than the fourth, tenth slightly wider than long. Prothorax widest at the apex where it is slightly narrower than the head and distinctly wider than long; sides moderately strongly convergent posteriorly, very feebly end evenly arcuate; base broadly and rather feebly arcuate; apex rather more strongly arcuate, broadly siuiiate in the middle two-fifths; anterior angles rather broadly rounded, basal very broadly so; disk finelj'', very feebly and sparsely punctate, with an entire and rather wide me- dian impunctate area, and, especially toward base, a very tine and feebly im- pressed median stria. Elytra at base distinctly narrower than the pronotum; sides rather strongly divergent and nearly straight; together broadly, feebly and sub-angularly sinuate at the apex; disk about as wide as long, slightly longer than the pronotum, depressed, feebly impressed along the slightly ele- vated suture, except at the apex, moderately coarsely, densely and evenly punctate; punctures feebly sub-rugulose. Abdomen at base distinctly nar- rower than the elytra; sides slightly divergent posteriorly; surface verj'' finely, •densely, irregularly and sub-asperately punctate. Legs rather short and slea-
l(> CAMFOlxNlV AiWPKMV OF SOlKNrKS.
dor: tii*st four joints of t ho postoriov tai'si dooivasiug uuilonuly and itxther r:\v>idly ii\ longth, fourth longer than wide uud one-hrtlf as long as tho tirst, Lotit^th l.o mni.
San ^Fatoo Co., 1 ^ (Mr. Fnchs).
Tho autorior tarsi aiv vorv distiuotly dilatod toward base. Tills spooios oau bo at onoo rooognizod by its blaok oolor^ sbghtly trausvorso prothorax. and tho sidos of tho lattor, whii'h aro slightly arouato and not at all siuuato.
I'J — L, lepida ^^- ^P — K;\thor ivbust, dark picivnis throughout, head and prvnxotuui so.uvolv jH?rvvptibly palor: abdomen vc>j y slightly j^vlerat the imme- diate apex: legs pale, ferruginous-yellow: anteun;e dark fus<.\nis^ pale testa- otvus at tip, Kasal joint daik rufous: pulvseeuiv mther long and dense ou the elytr:^ and abdomen, denser and more sericeous ou the latter, elsewhere very s]LV»rse: integuments very feebly alutaoovnis. shining. H^ad large, sub-tri- angular: b;ise iMvwdly and feebly sinuate, Jiugles nither broadly rounded: jNide* very feebly ev>nvergent anteriorly, long, distinctly arcuate: epistomal apexlvrv^ad. svx^iaxely truncate; antemial tubt^rculatious very small and n\ther feeble: surface tiuely. densely aud evenly punctate: median line Rather nar- rv>w: antenu;^ slender, much shorter than the head aud prothon^x together, second joint distinctly shorter than the tliirv\ and slightly longer than tlie fourth, tenth as long as wide. Prx^tMoriijr as long as wide, distinctly nar- iV)Wt>r thaT\ the head: sides feebly ^\>uvergent from apex to base, straight in the middle: Ivvse brvvidly trui\cate in the middle: basal angles broadly rv>undevl. apic;vl very slightly less so: sides thence very strongly convergent and stniight to the nuchal enuu^ination. which is more than oue-thirvl as vrivle Jis the disk auvl very brv.v»dly rv>undevl: disk tntusversely and very feebly coiw^ex aK^ve, stivmgly and r:\ther alvruptly so at the sides, tiuely and feebly pnnctate. s^virsely so ncivr the middle, more cojirsely and closely at the sides; median line rather broad. evjujU thr^^ughout: very near the K^se there is a very feeble median stria. Eijttm at l>ase just pereeptibly narrower than the prv>uotttm: sivles feebly divergent posteriorly and nearly straight: to- gether btvv^dly ;md extremely feebly sinuate Ivhiud: disk distinctly longer than wide and slightly lougt^r than the j^vrouotum, rather depressed, ntirrowly impresstvl along the slightly elevated suture, rather tiuely. evenly, densely aud sub-ruguU>sely punctate. Ab^i^mm at Ivise very slightly narrower than the elytra: sid^^ very l\vbly divergent iv>steriorly, nearly straight: surface Tery minutely and densely, fe^^bly and sul^-as^vrAtely punctate, L^ii^ mode- rate: tirst joint of the jx^sterior tarfd one-hsilf longer than the second, slightly longer than the tifth. Length o.O mm.
Santa Clarj\ Co., 3.
Tho description is takou from tho male, in whioh tho riftli sogmont is transvoi^>oly truuotivte at apox, tlie edge being
CAMKOIJM.V A(\\I)1:MV OK S(M KNCKS. 17
very bro.idlv' aiul foobly luidiilafcoil jiiul wiUi a tniusvoiYO row c)l" still' rocuinl)oiifc sotju sli«a;litly within tiio margin; sixth broadly and dooply sinuato, tho sinus boin;^- twico as wido as (loop and vory broadly ronndiul anttniorly; sovonth narrowly divided. Tho spocios is easily distingnishablo from tho proooding two by its much longer elytra in both tho maU* and t'cMualo.
1'^— L. pubenila 'i- t^P- — Modonitely slouilor, yiiocons-bliick thron^Jiout, iib- dominal iiin^x not notiooably paler; logs dai'lc roiUlish-hrown; autonua^ fns- cons, apox paler; head aud pronotmu sparsely, vallu'r coarsely and somewhat distinctly pubescent; pubesoenec of tho elytra and abdouu'U rather long, coarse and sonunvhrtt dense, rather couspicnous, pale fulvous throughout; integuments very feebly alutacoous, shining. Head moderate; base broadly and very feebly sinuate, angles rather narrowly rounded; sides paral'el and distim^tly arcuate, slightly more strongly.so behind; epistomal apex moderate in width, broadly and very feebly arcuate; surface very finely, densely and extremely feebly punctate; median line narrow, interrupted at tho base and with an elongate very feebly elevated ridge anteriorly; aiitenujD very slightly shorter than the head and prothorax together; slender, second joint two- thirtls as long as the third and distinctly longer than the fourth, tenth very slightly Nvider than long. Prothorax quadrate, just visibly narrower than the head; sides feebly convergent posteriorly throughout and very feebly arcuate; buse broadly truncate in tho middle; apical angles rather broadly rounded, basal very broadly so; disk transversely and rather strongly convex very iinely, feebly and sparsely punctate, more densely so at tho sides; me- dian line broad and well marked, having a short impressed median stria near the base. 7i(7y<?v/ at buso sub-eipial in width to the prt)notum; sides rather feebly divergent posteriorly and very feebly arcuate; together broadly and moderately sinmite behind; disk very slightly longer than tho pronotum, slightly longer than wide, moderately depressed, narrowly impressed along the slightly elevated suture, moderately coarsely, closely andsub-granulosely punctate, the puucturi>s being extremely minute and at the summits of line elevated granules. Abdomen at base nearly us wide ns tho elytra; sides very feebly divergent posteriorly and nearly straight, very minutely, feebly, irreg- ularly and sub-asperately punctate, the bases of the basal segments being ini- puuotato. Legs rather robust; tirst johit of tho posterior tarsi vory slightly longer than the second, nearly twice as long as tho fourth; anterior ttirsi nar- rowly dilated. Length -l.S mm.
Lake Co., 1 S (Mr. Fuchs).
Sexual characters nearly as iu lepida, the sinuation of the sixth segment being very broadly rounded and three times
2— Bull. Oal. Acad. Sci. 11. 5. rriiitoil Jiiuuary 27, 1880.
^ LIB R AR Y, .^
18 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
as wide as deep. This species is distinguished from slmia- iocollis and converge us by its longer elytra and sliape of the pronotum, from leplda by its sexual characters, denser pub- escence, color, and especially by its much narrower, more densely punctate, and more parallel head.
Group B.
The species here assigned to this group of the genus are in general quite homogeneous in appearance, the elytra being always much longer than the prothorax, and the pro- notum always very sparsely and feebty punctate in the mid- dle, Avith a broad median impunctate area. They, however, vary in the degree of density of the cephalic punctuation, in the prominence of the basal angles, and slightly in the form of the pronotum, this generally being nearly quadrate with the sides parallel, but sometimes having the sides dis- tinctly convergent from apex to base, and being in some cases slightly wider than long and in others longer than wide, within, however, very narrow limits. The head is usually moderate in size, sub-quadrate, and never very much wider than the prothorax.
14— L. malaca ii. sp. — Eather robust, depressed; piceons-black, abdomen paler at tip; pronotum slightly paler, dark rufo-fuscous; legs pale yellowish- testaceous throughout; antennae fuscous, pale testaceous at tip; pubescence sparse anteriorly, rather coarse, dense and conspicuous on the elytra and abdomen; integuments strongly shining, very feebly sub-alutaceous. Head rather large, slightly longer than wide; sides moderately long and distinctly arcuate; base broadly truncate, angles rather broadly rounded; eyes mod- erate, at twice their length from the base; epistoma moderately produced, very broad, sides strongly convergent to the apex, which is squarely truncate ; antennal tuberculations very small, rather prominent; surface very eve«, moderately convex, very finely, evenly and densely punctate, with a narrow, even, impunctate line in the middle; antennge slightly shorter than the head and prothorax together; basal joint nearly as long as the next three together, second very slightly shorter than the third and longer than the fourth, tenth as long as wide. Prothorax very slightly wider than long nnd just visibly narrower than the head; sides very feebly convergent throughout and very slightly arcuate; base and apex broadly, moderately and almost equally arcuate, the former sub-truncate in the middle; anterior angles
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 19
rather broadly rounded, basal slightly more broadlj' so; apical emargiuation feeble, one-third as wide as the disk; the latter transversely and very mod- erately convex, very finely, feebly and sparsely punctate in the middle, more strongly and densely so near the sides, with a wide median impunctate area, having a very small feeble impression near the base. Elytra at base distinctly wider than the pronotum; sides parallel and ver}'' slightly arcuate; together broadly and rather feebly sinuate behind; disk transversely and moderately convex, narrowly impressed along the distinctly elevated suture, very finely, rather densely and sub-granulosely punctate, scarcely one-fourth longer than wide, two-fifths longer than the i)i'onotum. Abdomen at base very slightly narrower than the elytra; sides parallel and feebly arcuate: surface very mi- nutely, densely, irregularly and sub-asperately punctate. Legs robust; first joint of the posterior tar^i one-third longer than the second. Length 4.3 mm.
Santa Clara Co., 1 5 .
The fifth ventral segment is broadly emarginate in its middle, three-fonrths at apex, the emargination being broadly rounded and six times as wide as deep; in the mid- dle there is a short and very broad porrected process at the bottom of the notch, which is broadly and feebly sinuate at its apex, each side of the emagination having elsewhere a porrected fringe of short, robust, very closely-^Dlaced spin- iiles, about eleven in number; sixth segment deeply emargin- ate at apex, the notch being parabolic in outline and slightly wider than deep, exterior angles slightly rounded; seventh narrowly divided.
This species is distinguished from all the others in this division of the genus by its rather large and very minutely punctate head. The anterior tarsi are rather strongly di- lated and clothed beneath with very short, pale, densely- placed. papilla3.
15— L. latiuscula n. sp. — Eather robust and depressed; head and abdomen piceous-black, the latter very slightly paler at the apex; pronotum dark rufo- fuscous; elytra much paler, rufous throughout; labrum, palpi and legs con- colorous, pale reddish-flavate throughout; antennte fuscous; base dark rufous, apex testaceous; pubescence very sparse anteriorly, long, very fine and rather si>arse on the elytra and abdomen; integuments polished, very finely sub- alutaceous. Head moderate, slightly wider than long exclusive of the labrum "which is large and prominent; teeth very small, acute; base broadly truncate angles rather broadly rounded; sides parallel and nearly straight; surface
20 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
rather coarsely, very feebly and rather sparsely punctate; median impunctate area rather broad, sub-fusiform; epistoma moderately produced, broad, fee''ly and abruptly arcuate in the middle at the apex; antennal tuberculations small and rather conspicuous; antennas nearly as long as the head and prothorax together; basal joint as long as the next two combined, second more than twice as long as wide, very slightly shorter than the third, distinctly longer than the fourth, tenth as long as wide. Prothorax slightly wider than long, very slightly narrower than the head; sides distinctly convergent posteriorly throughout and nearly straight; basal angles very obtuse and very shghtly rounded, sides of the base thence strongly convergent and broadly arcuate to the median portion which is almost squarely truncate; apex broadly and very feebly arcuate; nuchal emargiuation very feeble, nearly one-half as wide as the disk; ax3ical angles rather narrowly rounded; disk rather coarsely, ex- cessively feebly and very sparsely punctate; median impunctate area broad, equal throughout, surface not impressed. Elytra at base slightly wider than the pronotum; sides almost x)arallel and very slightly arcuate; together broadly, sub-angularly and very feebly sinuate behind; disk broadly and feebly convex, narrowly and rather strongly impressed along the slightly ele- vated suture, scarcely one-fourth longer than wide, one-third longer than the pronotum, rather finely, evenly, strongly, rather densely and sub-asperately punctate. Abdomen rather short and broad, slightly narrower than the elytra; sides parallel and slightly arcuate; surface very finely, densely and sub-asperately punctate. Legs rather short and robust; anterior tarsi slightly dilated; first joint of the posterior one-half longer than the second, nearly twice aa long as the fourth and slightly shorter than the fifth. Length 4.1 mm.
Lake Co., 1 (Mr. Fuclis); Southern Cal., 1 (Mr. G. W. Dunn).
The two specimens, of which the first is the type, are both females, and agree tolerabl}^ well together, although the one from the possible neighborhood of Los Angeles, has the head slightly narrower and more strongly arcuate behind with the basal angles more broadly rounded, the prothorax very slightly longer, and the elytra very slightty shorter and more finely punctate. There is a strong probability of its being at least a well-marked variety, although lack of ma- terial prevents any judgment as to the amount of specific variation; in other portions of this group, however, whera the material is ample, the specific variation is seen to be very slight.
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 21
16 — L. sublesta u. sp. — Very moderately robust; head and abdomen black, the latter scarcely paler at tip; prouotum very dark fuscous; elytra dark yel- lowish-rufous; labrum aud antennae fuscous, the latter pale testaceous toward tip; palpi slightly paler, brownish; legs pale brownish-flavate throughout; pubescence very sparse anteriorly, moderately dense and fine on the elytra, very dense, fine and sericeous on the abdomen; shining. Head moderate, as long as wide; base broadly arcuate, angles broadly rounded; sides parallel aud nearly straight; eyes at nearly twice their length from the base, somewhat prominent; epistoma moderately produced, truncate at tip; labrum moderate in size; occiput moderately convex, finely and somewhat densely punctate, more sparsely so in the middle; median impunctate area narrow; antennte nearly as long as the head and prothorax together, basal joint scarcely as long as the next two combined, second nearly as long as the third, slightly longer than the fourth, tenth as long as wide. Prothorax very slightly wider than long, equal in width to the head; sides parallel and feebly arcuate; base broadly, evenly and moderately arcuate throughout; apex very feebly arcuate; nuchal emargination excessively feeble, rather wide; apical angles rather broadly rounded, basal more broadly so; disk transversely, evenly and feebly convex, finely margined along the base, extremely feebly, finely and sparsely punctate above, three times as densely so near the sides; median impunctate area rather broad. Elytra at base distinctly'' wider than the prothorax; sides parallel and feebly arcuate; together broadly and very feebly sinuate behind; disk depressed above, strongly convex at the sides, narrowly and distinctly impressed along the slightly elevated suture, one-fifih longer than wide and nearly one-half longer than the pronotum, very minutely, rather feebly, densely, evenly and sub-asperately punctate. Abdomen very slightly narrow- er than the elytra; sides parallel and very feebly arcuate; surface minutely, exceedingly densely and evenly punctato-asperate. Legs rather long and slender; anterior tarsi rather strongly dilated, posterior long and slender, first joint about one-fourth longer than the second, slightly shorter than the fifth and as long as the third and fourth together. Length 4.2 mm.
Napa Co., 1 5 .
The fifth segment is broadly impressed in the middle throughout its length; the apex is very broadly emarginate, the sides of the notch being rather feebly convergent ante- riorly and each having a fringe of about eight robust spin- ules; in the middle of the eniargination there is a very short broad process, broadly arcuate posteriorly; sixth segment parabolically emarginate, notch one-half wider than deep: seventh narrowly divided.
17 — L. COnsanguinea 11- sp.— Moderately robust and depressed; head, pro- notum and abdomen black, the latter very slightly paler at the apex; elytra dark
22 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
pieeo-castaneoiis; femora piceo-castaneoiis, tibias and tarsi paler, brownisli- riifons; autenure piceous at base, becoming fuscous in the middle and pale testaceous at tip; palpi fuscous; integuments polished, very feebly sub- alutaceous; pubescence anteriorly very sparse, that of the elytra coarse, not very dense, that of the abdomen more than twice as dense, sericeous, fulvous and conspicuous. Head moderate, as long as wide; base broadly and very feebly arcuate, angles rather broadly rounded; sides parallel and extremely feebly arcuate; epistoma rather strongly produced, broad, truncate at tip; antennal tuberculatiotis small, rather prominent; surface rather finely and moderately densely punctate; median line narrow, continuous throughout; antennas slightly shorter than the head and prothorax together; second joint distiuctb^ shorter than the third, very slightly longer than the fourth. ProthordX large, just visibly wider than the head, slightly wider than long; sides parallel, extremely feebly arcuate; base broadly, evenly and rather strongly arcuate; apex broadly and very feebly so; nuchal emargination one- third as wide as the disk, very feeble; apical angles rather narrowly rounded, basal broadly so; disk transversely, nearly evenly and rather feebly convex, finely, very feebly and rather sparsely punctate in the middle, slightly more densel}' so at the sides; median impunctate area broad, equal, narrowly, very feebly and longitudinally impressed near the base. Elytra at base distinctly wider than the pronotum; sides very slightly divergent posteriorly and slightly arcuate, together broadly and rather strongly sinuate behind; disk feebly convex, narrowly impressed along the slightly elevated suture, more strongly so at one-third the length from the apex, finely, deeply, sub-aspe- rately, evenly and rather densely punctate; slightly longer than wdde, and less than one-third longer than the pronotum. Abdomen rather short and broad, as wide as the elytra; sides parallel and distinctly arcuate; surface minutely very densely and sub-asperately punctate. Legs slender; first joint of the posterior tarsi one-third longer than the second, nearly as long as the third and fourth together. Length 4.2 mm.
San Francisco, 1 ? .
This species may be distinguished from the preceding by its shorter and more coarsely and sparsely punctured elytra, its much longer and more evenly punctate pronotum, and especially by its different coloration.
18 — L. COntigUUa ri- sp- — Form rather slender, rather strongly convex; head, pronotum and abdomen black, the latter very slightly paler at tip; elytra pice- ous-black, immediate apex slightly paler; femora castaneous, tibiae and tarsi fuscous; labrum, palpi and antennae piceous, the latter paler and fus- cous toward tip; pubescence of the anterior portions sparse, of the elytra moderately dense, long, rather coarse, of the abdomen dense, somewhat seri- ceous, fulvous; integuments polished, not at all alutaceous. Head rather small, distinctly longer than wide; base truncate, angles rather broadly
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 23
roiiuded; sides parallel, nearly straight; epistoma rather strongly produced, broadly and very feebly arcuate at the apex; aiitennal tuberculations mimite and slightly promiuent; labrum rather large teeth minute, very acute; an- tenna slightly shorter than the head and prothorax together, second joint two-thirds as long as the third and scarcely longer than the fourth; occiput rather convex, somewhat finely, evenly and sparselj'- punctate; punctures round and rather deep; median impuuctate area rather broad, equal through- out, well-marked. Prothorax quadrate, just visibly narrower than the head; sides parallel and nearly straight; base broadlj^ rather strongly and evenly arcuate; apex broadly and very feebly so; nuchal siuuation very feeble, two- fifths as wide as the disk; apical and basal angles rather broadly and nearly equally rounded; disk transversely, evenly and rather strongly convex, finely margined along the base, very finely, feebly and somewhat sparsely punctate in the middle, twice as densely so at the sides; median impunctate area equal throughout, moderately wide, with a very fine feeble median stria near the base. Elytra at base distinctly wider than the prothorax; sides parallel and feebly arcuate; together broadly, sub-angularly and distinctly sinuate behind disk one-fourth longer than wide, nearly one-half longer than the pronotum, feebly impressed along the slightly elevated suture, rather finely, densely, strongly and rugulosely punctate, the punctures being in transverse wavy series near the apex. Abdomen slightly narrower than the elytra; sides par; allel and nearly straight; surface very miuutely, densely and sub-asperately punctate. Legs rather long and slenler; first joint of the posterior tarsi one- half longer than the second, shorter than the next two together, fully as long as the fifta; anterior tarsi very slightly dilated. Length 4.3 mm.
San'Mateo Co., 1 $> (Mr. Fuchs).
The fifth segment is very broadly eniarginate nearly throughout its width at apex, the sides of the notch being- straight, very strongly convergent, and each having a fringe of seven stout, equal and closely-placed spinules; median porrected process very short and broad, very strongly sin- uate at the apex; sixth segment parabolically emarginate at apex, notch nearly twice as wide as deep; seventh broadly divided, incisure in the form of a very elongate acute tri- angle.
This S23ecies is remarkable for the unusually elongate basal joint of the posterior tarsi, which, however, comes well within the generic definition. It bears a considerable
o
resemblance to consanguinea, but differs in the narrower form, and especially in the form of the pronotum, which is as long as wide in the present species and slightly, though
24 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
very distinctly, wider than long in the former. It is true that the sexes in these cases are different, but on examining a full series of a closely-allied species — relrusa — described below, it is readily seen that the sexual differences in the general form of the body, even of the head, are almost ab- solutely inappreciable; it is in fact a forcible instance of what Dr. LeConte (Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. YI, p. 213) calls the polarity and, it might be added, concentration of sexual characters. Here we have the sexual modifications at the abdominal vertex extremely well marked, elsewhere, how- ever, if we except a slightly longer second antennal joint in the males, they are not at all apparent.
19 — L. luctUOSa 1^- sp. — Form slender; bead, pronotum and abdomen ^broiigbout black; elytra rufo-piceons, not paler at tip; legs dark brownisb- flavate; antennae piceons, pale at tbe tip; pubescence almost absent anteriorly, moderately sparse and fine on the elytra, somewhat dense on the abdomen; integuments polished. Head moderate, distinctly longer than wide; base truncate in the middle, angles rather narrowly rounded, sides parallel and very feebly arcuate; vertex moderately produced, truncate at apex, feebly arcuate in the middle; punctures feeble, small and rather sparse; median line rather broad, equal throughout; antennas distinctly shorter than the head and prothorax together; basal joint distinctly longer than the next two com- bined, second slightly shorter than the third, sub-equal to the fourth. Pro- thorax fully as long as w^ide, equal in width to the head; sides excessively feeblj' convergent posteriorly throughout and very feebh" arcuate; base broadly sub-truncate in the middle; apex broadlj', rather feebly and equally- strougly arcuate; nuchal sinuation feeble, two-fifths as wide as the disk; anterior angles rather narrowly rounded, basal broadly so; disk transversely, evenly and moderat?ly convex, very feebly, finely and rather sparsely punc- tate in the middle, more closely so at the sides: median impunctate area moderate in width, even throughout, not impressed. Elytra at base slightly wider than the prouotum: sides parallel and feebly arcuate; together broadly, roundly and rather feebly sinuate behind; disk less than one-third longer than the pronotum, one-fourth longer than wide, feebly and narrowly impressed aloug the slightly elevated suture, finely, feebly, evenl}'-, sub- asperately and rather spars -Ij'^ punctate. Abdomen slender, scarcely nar- rower than the elytra; sides straight and parallel; surface minutely, very densely, sub-asperately and evenly punctate. Legs rather slender; first joint of the posterior tarsi oue-thirLl longer than the second, much shorter than the fifth; anterior tarsi slightly dilated. Length 4.2 mm.
San Francisco, 1 ? .
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 25
Tliis species, thougli closely allied to tlie preceding, dif- fers from it in sucli an assemblage of minor characters as to leave very little doubt of its distinctness; among these are its more slender form, still more slender prothorax, and more particularly the elytral punctuation which is decidedly more si3arse, feebler and less rugulose; the abdomen also is not pale at tip, and the el^'tra are paler in color in lactuosa.
20 — L. retrusa n- sp. — Moderately robust; bead, pronotum and abdomen tbrongbout black; elytra dark rnfo-piceous, scarcely perceptibly and grad- Tially paler toward the apices; legs rather pale brownish; antennae, labrum and palpi piceoiis-black, the former slightly i^aler toward tip; pubescence sparse anteriorly, rather dense and very fine on the elytra, twice as dense, very short and fine on the abdomen, not very conspicuous; integuments polished. Head moderate; base broadly and distiuctl}^ arcuate, angles very broadly rounded; sides behind the eyes rather short, parallel and nearly straight; surface slightly longer than wide, finely, extremelj'^ feebly and rather densely punctate; median line rather broad; epistoma very short, rather narrow, truncate at apex; labrum moderate, teeth small, approximate, rather long and very acute; antenna nearly as long as the head and protho- rax together, second joint distinctly shorter than the third, slightly longer than the fourth. Prothorax rather large, quadrate, just visibly wider than the head; sides parallel and nearly straight; base broadly, very evenly and rather strongly arcuate throughout; apex feebly arcuate; nuchal emargina- tion two-fifths as wide as the disk, broadly and distinctly rounded; apical angles rather narrowly rounded, basal scarcel}'' more broadlj" so, very obtuse; disk very finely margined along the base, broadlj'^, nearly evenly and mod- ^ratelj^ convex, very minutely, feebly and sparsely x^unctate in the middle, twice as densely, but still rather sparsely so at the sides; median line rather broad, equal throughout. Elytra at base distinctly wider than the prono- tum: sides nearly parallel, feebly arcuate posteriorly; together broadly, roundly and distinctly sinuate behind; disk one-fifth longer than wide, one- third longer than the pronotum, rather broadly and strongly impressed along the slightly elevated suture, more distinctly impressed near the scutellum, very finely, rather feebly and very densely punctate; punctures sub-asperate and distinctly finer and denser toward the apex. Abdomen very slightly narrower than the elytra; sides parallel and very nearly straight; surface very minutely, evenly, excessively densely f ebly and sub-asperately punc- tate. Legs rather slender; first joint of the posterior tarsi one-fourth longer than the second, much shorter than the fifth; anterior tarsi very slightly dilated; posterior tibite obliquely and feebly excavated exteriorly at the apex, the excavation being smooth and glabrous, and bounded internally by a dense row of closely-placed and very fine erect spinules. Length 4.1-4.3 mm.
Mendocino Co. (Anderson Val.), 5.
26 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
This very distinct species may be recognized immediately by its rather narrow head, broadly rounded behind, and having the basal angles almost obsolete. The type is a male; the fifth segment is broadly emarginate almost throughout its width at apex, the sides of the notch being very strongly convergent and distinctly incurvate, each bearing a por- rected fringe of nine robust, black, short and rather closely- placed spinules; the porrected process at the bottom of the emargination is very short and rather narrow, scarcely wider than the fimbriate sides; it is broadly and feebly sinuate at apex; sixth segment parabolically emarginate at tij), the notch being slightly wider than deep, exterior angles nar- rowly rounded; seventh narrowly and acutely incised or di- vided along its lower surface as in the preceding species.
The structure of the posterior tibiae is peculiar to the genus as far as I have observed.
21 — L. greg'alis u- sp. — Moderately slender, black, abdomen scarcely paler at tip; elytra slightly piceous; legs d irk castaueous, tibiae toward tip and tarsi paler; antenna piceoiis-black at base, fuscous in the middle, testaceous at tip; pubescence sparse anteriorly, rather long, dense and coarse on the elytra, \evy fine, dense and short on the abdomen, not conspicuous; integu- ments polished. Head rather large, as wide as long; base broadly and feebly arcuate, angles broadly rounded; sides parallel and distinctly arcuate; epi- stoma broad, moderately produced, truncate; antennal tuberculations small, rather prominent; labrum moderate, teeth slightly defiexed, small, equilat- ero-triangular, antennae distinctly shorter than the head and prothorax together, second joint slightly shorter and distinctly more robust than the third, distinctly longer than the fourth; surface rather strongly convex, finely, very feebly and densely imnctate; median line rather wide, Prothorax moderate, slightly longer than wide, very slightly narrower than the head; sides parallel, nearly straight in the middle; base broadly and feebly arcuate, broadly sub-truncate in the middle; apex strongly and evenly arcuate at the sides; nuchal emargination narrow, not one-third as wide as the disk, rather strongly incurvate; apical angles very broadly rounded, basal slightly more broadly so; disk transversely and moderately convex, very finely mar- gined along the base, rather coarsely, very sparsely and excessively' feebly punctate in the middle, much more finely, distinctly and densely so at the sides; median impunctate area rather broad. Elytra at base very slightly wider than the pronotum, scarcely wider than the head; sides very slightly divergent jDosteriorly and very feebly arcuate; together broadly, roundly and very feebly sinuate behind; disk one-fourth longer IJian wide, one-third
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 27
longer than the pronotniu, very feebly convex, very broadly and feebly im- pressed along the very slightly elevated suture, finely, rather strongly and densely, snb-asperately and evenly punctate. Abdomen at base nearly as wide as the elytra; sides parallel and ver3'^ feebly arcuate; surface very finely, sub-asperately and densely punctate. Legs slender; anterior tarsi very slightly dilated; first joint of the posterior nearly one-half longer than the second, sub-equal in length to the fifth. Length 3.5 mm.
Santa Clara Co, 11.
The type is a male, tlie sexual characters being of the same general order as in the preceding group of species, although distinctl}^ modified; the fifth segment is broadly and rather feebly emarginate nearly throughout its width at apex, the sides of the notch being very strongly convergent and feebly incurvate, each having aporrected fringe of about thirteen robust, closely-placed spinules; the median por- rected process is very narrow, about one-half as wide as the fimbriate sides, and exceedingly short, with the sides acute and not broadly rounded as in the preceding species; it is broadly, roundly and rather strongly emarginate throughout its width at apex, and has its surface smooth, glabrous and conically impressed; sixth segment broadly and parabolic- ally emarginate at apex, the notch being twice as wide as deep, and having the edge at the bottom narrowly mem- branous; seventh segment broadly divided.
22 — L. mimula u- sp. — Form rather slender, intense black throughout except the abdomen at tip which is slightly paler; legs rather dark brownish-flavate; antennre black at base, becoming dark fuscous toward tip; pubescence very sparse anteriorly, long, coarse and rather sparse on the elytra, very fine and moderately dense on the abdomen; integuments polished. Head moderate; base truncate, angles rather narrowly rounded; sides parallel and nearly straight; surface scarcely as wide as long, moderately convex, verj^ finely, moderately feebly and rather densely punctate; median line rather broad; epistoma moderate in width, slightlj^ j^^'O^^^^ced, broadly and feebly arcuate at the apex; antennal tuberculations small, rather prominent; labrum moderate in size, teeth broader than long, scarcely deflexed, distinct; antennje slightly shorter than the head and prothorax together, basal joint rather robust. Prothorax scarcely perceptibly narrower than the head, slightly longer than wide; sides parallel, straight or very feebly sub-sinuate in the middle; base broadly and feebly arcuate, broadly sub-truncate in the middle; apex strongly
28 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
arcuate at the sides; nuchal emargination one-tbird as wide as the disk, strongly and evenly incurvate; anterior angles rather broadly rounded, basal slightly more broadly so; disk very evenly, moderatelv and transversely con- vex, punctured as in r/regalis. Eli/tra at base distinctly wider than the iDro- thorax and slightly wider than the head; sides nearly parallel, feebly arcuate; together broadly, roundly and moderately sinuate behind; disk scarcely per- ceptibly impressed along the very slightly elevated suture, one-fourth longer than wide, nearly one-half longer than the pronotum, finely, feebly, sub- asperately, evenly and not densely punctate. Abdomen rather narrow, at base distinctly narrower than the elytra; sides parallel and feebly arcuate; surface finely, feebly, sub-asperately and densely punctate. Legs slender; first joint of the posterior tarsi one-third longer thiin the second, distinctly shorter than the fifth. Length 3.3 mm.
Santa Cruz Co., 5; Santa Clara Co., 3; San Mateo Co., 3.
Described from the male; the fifth segment is broadly and feebly emarginate at apex, the sides of the emargination being extremely strongly convergent and feebly incurvate, each having a fringe of nine closely-placed spinules; the median process is very short, fully as wide as the fimbriate sides, its lateral extremities being in the form of strong acute porrected teeth, and having the apex broadly roundly and strongly emarginate throughout its width, its surface being scarcely perceptibly impressed; the remaining seg- ments modified nearly as in gregalis. The species resembles the preceding to such an extent that great care is requisite in its identification; it is, however, distinguishable by its narrower head with straighter sides and much more narrowly rounded basal angles, by its longer elytra, which are also decidedly more sparsely and feebly punctate, and by its sexual characters. The pronotum and elytra are sometimes paler perhaps from immaturity.
23— L. languida n- sp.— Form rather slender, depressed; head black; ab- domen piceous, slightl}' paler at tip; pronotum dark rufo-fuscous; sides and apex of the elytra broadly pale brownish-tlavate, central and basal portions shaded darker, castaneous; legs pale flavate throughout; an teunre piceous-black at base, becoming gradually rather pale testaceous toward the apex; pubescence of the elytra and abdomen not very dense, fine and inconspicuous. Head nearly as wide as long; base truncate in the middle, angles moderately broadly rounded; sides parallel and nearly straight; surface moderately convex, rather
CALIFORXIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 29
coarsely, xevy feebly aud somewhat sparsely punctate; median line broad; epistoma moderately produced, In-oadly and feebly arcuate at apex; anteunal tuberculations feeble, not prominent; antennae nearly as long as the he.id and prothorax together, second joint slightly shorter than the third and much longer than the fourth, not very robust, third three times as long as wide. Prothorax just perceptibly narrower than the head, very slightly longer than wide; sides parallel, nearly straight in the middle; base and apex broadly, nearly evenly and rather strongly arcuate, the latter very slightly the more strongly so; nuchal emargination much more than one- third as wide as the disk, broadly and very feebly incurvate; anterior and posterior angles broadly and nearly equally rounded; disk broadlj^ and rather feebly convex, rather coarsely, sparsely and excessively feebly punctate in the middle, the punc- tures becoming tiner, more distinct and denser toward the sides; median im- XDunctate area rather broad. Elytra at base distinctly wider than the protho- rax, slightly wider than the head; sides parallel, feebly and nearly evenly- arcuate; together broadly, roundly and moderately sinuate behind; disk one- fourth longer than wide and one-third longer thstn the pronotum, rather coarsely, densely, evenly and sub-asperately punctate. Abdomen at base dis- tinctly narrower than the elytra; sides i)arallel and nearly straight; surface very minutely, feebly, densely aud sub-asperately punctate; border ^rather narrow and deep, slightly paler in color. Legs slender; first joint of the pos- terior tarsi one-half longer than the second, sub-equal in length to the fifth. Length 4.0 mm.
Sonoma Co., 1 S .
Eesembles the preceding two species in its elongate pro- thorax, but possessing a still different modification of the male sexual characters. The fifth segment is broadly emar- ginate nearly throughout its width at apex, the sides of the emargination being feebly convergent and nearly straight, each having aporrected fringe of seven rather widely-spaced spinules; the median process is very short and broad, being twice as wide as either of the fimbriate sides adjoining; it is broadly, feebly and evenly arcuate throughout its width at apex, and without any appearance of lateral teeth ; sixth seg- ment strongly and parabolically emarginate at apex, the notch being nearly one-half wider than deep.
METAXYOLONTA n. gen.
In this genus, represented by two closely-allied spe- cies, the form and general appearance again differ most
30 CALIFOKNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
decidedly from anytliing hitherto described; the head is small, triangular, with very large, coarsely granulated eyes, robust antennae and with an entirely different structure of the labrum. The species are rather robust, and the integu- ments throughout are strongly alutaceous, this appearance being produced upon some portions of the body by an ex- cessively minute and dense punctuation, and upon others by a correspondingly minute and dense granulation. The head in both of the forms here described is blackish, the remain- der of the body, legs, labrum and antennae being flavate or clouded slightly with brownish ; they are very rare although the species may perhaps be relatively more numerous.
24 — ]y[, alutacea i^- sp. — Rather robust; head fusco-castaueous or nearly piceous-black; pronotum aud abdomeu concoloroiis, pale castaneous; elytra still paler, brownish-testaceous; legs uniformly flavate; antenme uniformly pale reddish-flavate throughout; palpi flavate; pubescence fine, moderately dense, coarser aud more conspicuous on the elytra; integuments alutaceous. Head mode»ate, as wide as long; sides parallel, short and distinctlj^ arcuate; base truncate, angles broadly rounded; eje% very large, at scaicely their own lengths from the basal angles, not prominent, rather coarsely granulate; epistoma rather strongly produced, sides strongly convergent toward the apex, truncate anteriorly; antennal tubetculations rather strong, small; sur- face moderately convex, extremely minutely and densely punctate, with a very narrow median impuuctate line, having two widely distant, annular, setigerous punctures between the eyes and one behind each antenual tuber, culation, also several small ones near and behind the eyes; antennas rather robust, slightly longer than the head and prothorax together, basal joint about three times as long as wide, second two-thirds as long as the third, nearly as long as the fourth, joints four to ten decreasing in length, the latter scarcely as wide as long, eleventh ovoidal, obtusely acuminate, much shorter than the two preceding together. Prothorax very slightly wider than long, sub-equal in width to the head; sides very feebly convergent from apex to base, the latter narrowly truncate in the middle; apex broadly and rather feebly arcuate, narrowly and feebly sinuate in the middle; apical and basal angles equally and very broadly rounded; disk transversely and very feebly convex, extremely minutely and densely punctate; punctures slightly more sjjarse near the middle, where there is a very narrow and obscure median impunctate line. Elytra at base very slightij^ wider than the pronotum; sides nearly parallel, very slightly arcuate; together broadly and feebly sinuate at apex; outer angles rounded; disk quadrate, one-fourth longer than the prono- tum, feebly convex, feebly impressed on the suture toward base, the suture not elevated, very minutely, evenly and densely granulose; the granulations
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 31
separated hy more than their own widths and setigerous. Abdomen rather robust, nearly as wide as the elytra; border moderate; surface very minutely, feebly, denseh' and sub-asperately punctate, the asperities being arranged in very close, interrupted, tran&verse wavy lines. Legs moderate; anterior tarsi distinctly dilated, fourth joint slightly emargiuate, first four joints of the posterior tarsi decreasing uniformly and very gradually in length, the first less than one-half longer than the second and much shorter than the fifth, fourth longer than wide. Length 3.8 mm.
Santa Clara Co., 1 6 ,
The fifth ventral segment is thickened in the middle third at apex, the edge being obliquely beveled and having a dense comb -like row of very minute, parallel, longitudinal black ridges or strigse; sixth segment broadly and very strongly emarginate at apex, tlie emargination acutely rounded anteriorly and having at each side, slightly distant from the edge of the notch and at about the middle of its length, a small brush of very long densely-placed hairs; seventh segment very narrowly divided, truncate at tip, large and prominent.
25 — M. quadricollis n- sp. — Form rather robust; head piceous-black;prouo- tum and elytra pale rufo-testaceous, the latter slightly the paler; abdomen pale brownish-fuscous; legs, antenna;, labrum and palpi concolorous, very pale flavate; pubescence sparse anteriorly, coarser, much denser and not very conspicuous on the elytra and abdomen, distinctly denser on the latter; integuments alutaceous. Head moderate, as wide as long; sides short, par- allel; base truncate, angles rather broadly rounded and slightlj' prominent; surface moderately and evenly convex, extremely minutely and densely punctate, with a very narrow median line which is totallj^ obliterated ante- riorly; antennas rather robust, as long as the head and prothorax together, second joint three-fourths as long as the third. Prothorax nearly quadrate; sides parallel and feebly arcuate; base broadly and rather feebly arcuate; apex broadly arcuate, very feebly and roundly emarginate in the middle third, with the edge at each side just without the emargination slightly sinu- ate; apical angles very narrowly rounded, basal broadly so; disk distinctly longer than the head, exclusive o^ the labrum, and very slightly wider, broadly and rather feebly convex, excessively minutely and densely punc- tate; punctures noticeably sparser toward the middle, where there is a very narrow imperfect impunctate line, and, near the base, a short median stria. Elytra very slightly wider than the pro no turn; sides parallel and slightly arcuate; together broadly and extremely feebly sinuate at apex; disk slightly longer than wide, scarcely one-fourth longer than the pronotum, very mi-
32 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
niitely and densely granulate. Abdomen slightly narrower than the elytra; sides nearly parallel; surf.ice minutely, densely and sub-asperately punctate, without any arrangement in wavy rows. Legs moderate; anterior tarsi mod- erately dilated; first four joints of the posteiior decreasing uniformly and very gradually in length, the first one-half longer than the second and shorter than the fifth. Length 8.8 mm.
Lake Co., 1 $> (Mr. Fuclis).
This species is rather closely allied to the preceding, the sexual characters being almost identical, the surface of the fifth segment being slightly more strongl}^ swollen in the middle near the apex and the notch of the sixth being very slightly more broadly rounded in quadricoUis; in the form and size of the pronotum, relative length of the elytra, and in the punctuation of the abdomen, the two species are, how- ever, so distinct that it can scarcely be possible to confound them.
The eastern Litlioclmris corticina Grav. is somoAvhat allied to this genus, but is scarcely congeneric. The labrum in corticina is very large, broadly explanate and rounded at the sides; in the middle of its apical margin it has a small abrupt emargination, at the bottom of which there is an obtuse tooth which is the prolongation of a small anterior dorsal carina. In the general form of the head it is strik- ingly different from the members of Metaxyodonta.
L. confluens Say must form the type of a genus quite dis- tinct from any other here described, because of the very different structure of the posterior tarsi which are short and rather robust, and in which the basal joint is slightly shorter than the second and less than one-half as long as the fifth. For this genus I would propose the name Trachysectus.
I am indebted to Dr. J. Hamilton of Allegheny and Mr. F. M. Webster of Lafayette, Indiana, for specimens of these species. ^.y.^^
luJBRARV.J
-♦vt^
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
33
APPENDIX.
HESPEROBIUM n. gen. (Pfederini),
It is not without great difl&clence that I here propose a new name for the American species which have been hitherto placed in Cryptobium ; especially is this the case since the South American and Mexican species have been passed over almost in silence regarding their generic distinctness by Dr. Sharp, and the North x4.merican forms, first by Dr. LeConte and afterwards, independently, by Dr. Horn. Being moved, however, by the conviction that scientific nomenclature has arrived at such a stage that to longer abstain from recogniz- ing and differentiating distinct generic subdivisions, can only be conducive to a superficial knowledge of nature and be detrimental to a scientific arrangement of the species as a whole, I have concluded to make the division and give the differential descriptions in the form of parallel columns, by which means the chief distinctive features cfan be more readily compared.
In the following statement tlie type of Hesperobium is the Calif orniau H. tiunldiim Lee, the characters of Cryptobium Mann, being taken from the very thorough treatise by Mr. C. Eey iTpon the Piederini (Hist! Nat. Col. Fr., 1878).
Cryptobium. Labrum short, sinuate and biden- ticulate in the middle of its anterior maroiu.
3— Bull. Cal. Acap. Sct. II. 5i .•
Hesperobium. Labrum very short and broad, feebly and triangularly emarginate throughout its width at apex, not denticulate but having in the middle, at the apex of the triangular notch a small rounded emargination; sides strongly convergent toward the base; apical angles narrowly rounded.
Printecl January 27, 1886.
34
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
Third joint of the maxillary palpi gradually aud rather strongly dilated toward the apex which is truncate; fourth small, slender and subulate.
Labial palpi short wdth the two ba- sal joints sub -cylindrical, the second a little longer than the first; the third small, slender, acuminate.
Third joint long and slender, rather feebly dilated, cbconical; fourth short, sligh 1 1}^ oblique, conical, acute- ly pointed, nearly as wide at base as the apex of the third and received partly within it.
Labial palpi slender, first joint longer than wide, about one-half as long as the second, which is slender and more or less dilated at the apex; third conical, very slender, acute, much narrower at base than the apex of the second. Paraglossffi acuminate. Paraglossas elliptically rounded at
tip. Antennae having the second and Antennae with the second joint
third joints sub-equal. distinctly shorter than the third.
There are also differences in the structure of the abdomen, and in the rela- tive sizes of the segments.
Except in the characters given above, the two genera are somewhat similar. In applying these to the entire group of North American species, it is easily seen that the antennal structure is not entirely constant, there being a few species in which the second and third joints are nearl}^ equal in length. The components of a very limited group of small species containing pusillum, lepidum, etc., have the fourth joint of the maxillary palpi small, acicular and not conicah, and those should x:)robably be referred to a closely-allied genus or to a sub-ganus; all the others have the fourth joint conical and pointed, although varying greatly in thickness at the base', all being, however, variations of one common type, which is the conical and acutely pointed. Dr. Sharp
J LeConte-Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. XVII, 1878, p. 392.
'^ The two species, convergens and parallelum, described by me (Cont. II, pj). 129-131), aud very erroneously united by Dr. Horn (Ent. Amer. I, p. 109) under the head of an entirely distinct B\)ec\e^—jloridanum — serve as a good illustration of this variability of the fourth joint, this being conical and very narrow, small and almost acicular in convergent, and scarcely longer than wide, being strongly conical, flattened and almost as broad at base as the apex of the third in parallelum. Having here incidentally made a correction
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 35
(Biol. Cent.-Amer., I, Ft 2, p. 506), probably because of this variability, considers the palpal structure as of minor importance when compared with others, and does not even employ it in subdividing the genus, although this has been done with more or less success by Dr. Le Conte (Proc. Am. Phil. Soc. XYII, 1878, p. 390), but without considering the structure of the maxillary palpi, we still have, I think, enough characters remaining to confirm the validity of Hes- perobium.
Dr. Sharp, in the work above mentioned, divides the Central American species into groups depending upon the presence or absence of a lateral raised line upon the lower part of the flank of each elytron; when the Paederini have been sufficiently studied as a group, it may be found desira- ble to give this character a generic import, in which case the name Hesperobium should be retained for the species having this lateral line, as it is present in the type which is assumed above as representing the genus. It is also present in califormcum, and in an undescribed species, represented in my cabinet by a unique male, found near San Francisco; it is probably characteristic of the Calif ornian species as a group'.
In describing several species of this genus (Cent. II, pp. 1'27-133), attention was called to two very large and promi- nent annular punctures, or more properly areolae, situated behind the eyes. I think that these punctures are of greater importance from a systematic standpoint than was at first supposed, as they constitute one of the distinguishing fea- tures of Hesperobium and the ilmerican species of Lathro-
iu Hynonjmj, I take the present opportunity to say in addition, that it is very difficult to reconcile Dr. Horn's assertion regarding the mutual identity of my H. capito and H. pallipes, Grav., with the statement made by Erichson in the description of the latter, viz: " Thorax latitudine sesqui fere longior." The prothorax in cax^ito is "scarcely one-fifth longer than wide." (Cont. II, p. 128.)
3 This line is also well developed in the Californian species which have been referred to Lathrobium and which are probably generically distinct.
36 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
biiim, being absent in the latter genus. In Hesperobkim ccdifornicnm they are very large, slightly oval, strongly an- nular and crater-like, occupying the entire summits of slight elevations, and having their planes not exactly parallel to the general surface but tilted very slightly forward, so that the slope of the elevation is more prominent behind. Be- tween them the surface is narrowly elevated or tumid in a longitudinal direction, and from the middle of each arises a very long erect seta from an annular median tubercle, which corresponds to the cone of the crater. These most singular structures are probably an additional distinctive feature of Hes23erobium.
The genus Homseotarsus founded by Hochuth upon an Armenian species, does not concern us at the present time, as, although the maxillary palpi are apparently of like struc- ture, it is, in almost all other respects, entirely similar to Cryptobium (Lac. Gen. Col. 11, p. 90).
II.
In the first volume of this Bulletin, page 315, 1 stated that the mandibles in Or us were qiiadridentate within. This is true only of the riglit mandible. Since the publication of the paper referred to, I have examined the left mandible and find it tridentate, the three teeth being small, approximate and situated almost exactly in the middle of the inner margin; the two basal ones are erect, slightly longer than wide, acute and equal, the third being longer and more slender, acute and rather strongly inclined toward the apex, the latter being evenly and strongly arcuate, very acute and slender. This combination of four teeth in the right and three in the left mandible is of frequent occurrence in the portion of the Psederini near and related to Lithocharis, where the man- dibular characters appear to lose the importance wdiich they possess in some other portions of the i;roup. Tlie abnormal arrangement of the teeth in Orus therefore, although it cannot of itself be maintained as a generic character, still serves to
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 37
show that which may easily be inferred from its general ap- pearance, viz: that it is much more nearly related to Litho- cliaris and its allies than it is to Scopf^us. It should, in fact, in a systematic arrangement of our Pa^derini, immedi- ately precede Caloderma which it resembles in its 4-dentate labrum, and from which it is distinguished, as before re- marked, by its strongly inflated third maxillary palpal joint, and also by its elongate prothorax and short basal joint of
the posterior tarsi.
III.
A considerable number of new genera having been de- scribed since the publication of the Classification of the Col- roptera of North America by LeConte and Horn, I would propose the following as a substitute for the one given in that work, page 99, for those Psederi which have the fourth tarsal joint simple.
It will be noticed that, in the following table, the genicu- lation of the antennae is considered of secondary import- ance when compared with other characters. Although this geniculation varies greatl}' in amount, I have yet failed to observe a single species of Nortii American Paederini in which it is not more or less manifest; the character is there- fore merel\- one of degree and is onlj'of importance when present in its extremes. There is. however, a marked diff- erence in the nature of the geniculation. In Hesperobium, and probably also Ababactus, the deep emargination at the apex of the scape which receives the second joint when flexed, is at the anterior portion of the apex, so that the funicle is bent to the front, while in the second section this emargination is at the back of the apex, so that Avheu flexed the funicle projects posteriorly. It is also to be noted that the geniculation of the antennae prevailing in the Paederini is not like that to be seen in some other groups of Coleop- tera, where the second joint is placed almost immovabl}" at an angle with the scape, and which could appropriately be termed vujidly r/euiculate. In this group the funicle is
38 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
capable of being flexed or straightened at pleasure, and, in contradistinction to the former, such an antenna might be called flexibly geniculate.
Basal joint of tlie aiitenuae greatly elongated, sub-equal iu leugtli to tlie next three or four together; antennae strongly and anteriorly geniculate.
Neck broad Hesperobium.
Neck narrow Ababactus.
Basal joint of the antennae not greatly elongated; antennas posteriorly and more or less strongly geniculate. First four joints of the i)osterior tarsi sub-equal, first not longer than th8 second. Neck rather broad.
Prothorax sub-quadrate or slightly elongate; labrum bilobed
Lathrobium.
Prothorax narrowed from apex to base; labrum truncate, not dent- iculate, having along the lower edge of its anterior margin four widely-spaced, very short, broadly rounded callosities, and, in the
middle a very small, rounded emargination Tr achy sect US.
Neck very slender.
Prothorax gradually narrowed anteriorly; labrum quadridentate.
Scopaeus.
Hind tarsi with the first four joints decreasing more or less gradually in leugth. Prothorax narrowed in front.
Labrum quadridentate Echiaster.
Labrum bidentate StilicUS.
Prothorax sub-quadrate, anterior and posterior angles more or less nar- rowly rounded. Labrum having four rather large sub-equal teeth; elytra much longer than the pronotum. First joint of the posterior tarsi very slightly longer than the second.
Orus.
First joint of the posterior tarsi sub-equal in length to the next two
together Caloderiiia.
Labium with two pairs of minute approximate teeth; elytra no longer
than the pronotum OllgoptcrUS.
Labrum bidentate; elytra variable in leugth . Llthocharls.
Labrum unidentate; elytra longer than the pronotum. Metaxyodonta. Labrum rounded; acutely emar-inate at tip; elytra as long as the
pronotum Dacnochllus.
Labrum entire; elytra shorter than the pronotum.. . Llparocephalus.
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 39
IV. THYCE Lee.
The following species was recently announced by me under the generic name Polyphylla (Bull. Cal. Acad. Sci., I, p. 285). The genus Thyce, although resembling Poly- phylla very greatly, differs radically in antennal structure, the club being trifoliate and the joints of tlie funicle of nearly equal length; while in Polyphylla the greatly devel- oped third joint is a very prominent distinctive feature, in addition to the more complex club.
In T. marginata the anterior tibiae have two teeth exclu- sive of the exterior apical spur which is very pronounced; these teeth are very unequal, the one nearer the base being very short and obtuse. The males have a large and rather feeble impression in the middle of the abdomen near the base. I have not seen the female.
T. marginata n. sp. — Form moderately robust; sides distinctly arcnate; prothorax piceous; elytra rufo-fnscous: the former having three posteriorly divergent lines of whitish sqnamose pubescence, the exterior ones widest and interrupted in the middle, the median very fine and almost obsolete toward base; each elytron having along the exterior edge a very wide line of plumbeo- cinereous and very slender squamose pubescence, not very densely placed, which is recurved at the apex continuing thence along the suture as a nar- row, whiter and much better defined line to the base; between these there is another very fine line terminating at one-fifth the length from the apex; pub- escence elsewhere fine and very sparse; legs and antennae fuscous; each ven- tral segment having au irregular spot of whitish squamiform pubescence at each side next the elytra. Head excluding the eyes slightly longer than wide, sub-quadrate; clypeus moderately reflexed, broadly and feeblj^ sinuate anteriorly; angles right and not at all rounded; pubescence long, rather sparse, mixed wuth squamose hairs near the base and sides; antennte well developed, funicle two-thirds as long as the club and nearly as long as the head, club viewed upon the broad side slightly' wider at apex than at base, three and one-half times as long as wide, Prothorax widest at the middle of its median length where it is four-fifths wider than long; sides thence strongly convergent and feebly arcuate to the apical angles, feebly convergent and straight to the basal angles which are obtuse and slightly rounded; base broadly angulate, feebly sinuate toward each basal angle; disk strongly con- vex, rather fiuely, moderately densely and irregularly punc'ate; punctures round, very shallow, variolate. Elytra at base slightly wider than the pro- thorax; sides parallel and feebly arcuate; together slightlj' less than one-half
40 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
longer than wide, two and one-half times as long as the prothorax, very finely, sparsely, feeblj^aud irregularly punctate; punctures asperate. Pj^gidium wider than long, feebly convex, finely and rather sparsely punctate, moderately sparsely and evenly covered with short slender squamose pubescence. Poste- rior tar-i short, two-thirds as long as the tibias; claws moderate, having a small erect acute tooth interiorly near the base. Length 19 0 mm.; width 8.5 mm.
California (San Diego Co.), also probably Lower Cali- fornia.
Five or six sj)ecimens were taken by Mr. G. W. Dunn, and I have received tlie present specimen through the kind- ness of Mr. W. G. W. Harford.
This species differs from sc/uamicolUs, Lee. in almost every character given by Dr. LeConte in the original description of the latter (Journ. Phil. Acad. HI, Nov. 1856, p. 225). It may, however, perhaps be best to call special attention to the more salient differences. These are the size, squami- collis being one-third longer, and the form and vestiture of the head and prothorax, the latter in marginafa, having no sign of a median channel, with the surface not impressed toward the anterior angles, and having the punctuation ex- tremely sparse near tlie sides of the pronotal disk. The scutellum in marginata has no glabrous line, and the pygi- dium is rather sparsely squamose. If .^qaainicollis possessed three prominent lines of scales upon the pronotum. with the surface elsewhere almost entirely free from them, or if it had three distinct lines of slightly denser pubescence upon each elytron, it is to be presumed that such striking charac- ters would have been mentioned by Dr. LeConte; this purely negatives evidence alone, therefore, is almost conclu- sive proof of the specific distinctness of iuarginata and of
its validit3\
V.
EERATA.
Several errors occurring in thj paper published by me in the preceding vol- ume of this Bulletin require correction, as follows:
Page 'iOD — jth line from bottom, for "Colodera" rad "Calodera." Page 3:1 - 1st line of descr., for '"L. longipennis" re id "V. longipennis." Page 327 — 10th and 15tli lines from top, for " Horniariim" rend " Honii- anum."
CHICORIACEOUS COMPOSITE. 41
STUDIES IN THE BOTANY OF CALIFORNIA AND PARTS
ADJACENT.
BY EDWARD LEE GREENE.
IV.
i. On Some Chicoriaceous Compositce.
The type of the genus Mlcroseris, Don, is a South Ameri- can plant, and we have no North American species which agree with it in both habit and pappus. It has ten awn- tipped pale^e; the Oalifornian species which seem truly con- generic with it. have live only. These species of the northern hemisphere are about seven or eight in number, and agree in aspect perfectly with their type. The}- are acaulescent annuals, with rosulate-depressed leaves, slender scapes, which are always decumbent at base, never at all thickened above, supporting heads which are uniformly nodding, both before and after flowering, becoming for the second time erect at the maturity of the fruit.
The name Calais^ DC. appears to be but in j^art s^^nony- mous with Mlcroseris. DeCandolle himself thought it might eventually be shown that he had included under Calais the types of two genera; and I am persuaded fully that his § Calocalais is a real genus, distinct from Mlcroseris. The species are few. Their palese are five, but the awn rises from an apical notch. These plants are never really acau- lescent. Their leaves are ascending, or erect, on the short or long stems. The peduncles are stout, strictly erect, thicker above, and the heads are firmly erect at all stages of growth. Of this peculiar aspect and character there are about five species, four of which have already their suitable names under Calais.
4— Bull. Cal. Acad. Sci. II. .5. Issued March 6, 1886,
42 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
Scorzonella, was thirty years ago reduced by Dr. Gray to Calais. Bentham and Hooker, in the Genera Plantarum, while reducing the whole of DeCandolle's Calais to Micro- seris, in recognition of the priority of the latter name, nev- ertheless perceived the validity of Scorzonella as a genus, and restored it; but in the Synoptical Flora, as well as an- tecedently, in volume nine of the proceedings of the Ameri- can Academy, it reappears as a mere section of Microseris. Having studied these plants diligently on their native soil during some six or seven years, I can but agree with the able and experienced founder of the genus, and with the learned authors of the Genera Plantarum, that Scorzonella should stand. Here the pappus-bristles are somewhat in- definite in number, and are mostly real bristles with palea- ceous-dilated base, rather than awn-tipped pale^e. The plants, while caulescent like Calais, have nodding heads like Microseris, quite distinctive involucres, fusiform perennial roots, and are gestival in flowering; whereas the two kindred genera of annuals have but a very short and strictly vernal season of flowering and fruiting. April is their month, and it is usually in vain to look for them after the beginning of May.
There are some three species of this particular alliance, upon which the eminent author aforenamed in the Plantae FendlerianaB established a genus Ptilophora, concerning which I judge all to have been well, save that the name was already in use for a genus of sea-weeds. These jDlants, while wholly in keeping with Scorzonella, as regards their general aspect, and perennial root, have a pappus of quite different character. The only distinction which has hitherto been definitely stated is that the numerous bristles are white and soft-plumose. This is doubtless the most obvious, in- deed it may be the only difference noticeable at first sight, in the very best of herbarium specimens, unless it be this, that the texture of the pappus is not only soft, but very fragile, which is not true of that of any Sco7'zonella. Now,
CHICORIACEOUS COMPOSURE. 43
the field observer, coming in sight of one of these plants in ripe fruit, perceives that these pappus-plumes are not straight and ascending as in all other genera of this group, but that they are regularly and gracefully recurved. This naturally and perfectly developed fruit, just ready to be set afloat in mid air on the jarring or shaking of the parent re- ceptacle, will never be found in herbarium specimens. The nearly ripe heads which partially unfold their pappus after drying, show every character but this important one. It seems to me never to have been spoken of in relation to the large and somewhat varied genus, Stephanomeria, where it is universal, and will serve to distinguish between that and its nearest ally, Rafinesquia, in which, if my memory serves faithfully, the pappus is straight. Dr. Kellogg must have observed this neat characteristic of the genus in tj^uestion, when he collected the common species in 1870; and it may well have been this which led him to refer to the plant, with a doubt, to Stephanomeria. The quick eye of our venerable pioneer caught at once the new fact, and he unconsciously recorded it in his misnomer. The last peculiar mark of the genus was detected by myself, lately, upon examining the excellent herbarium specimens with which we are now sup- plied. There are clear traces of a double pappus. I find on about one half of the akenes a solitary, firm, merely scabrous bristle, exterior to the plumose-awned palese, and of less than half their length, a kind of character which comes out strongly in another Chicoriaceous genus of Cali- fornia, namely, Malacothrix, between which and Scorzonella this very clear one ought to be placed. Dr. Gray, a few years subsequently to his founding of FtilopJiora, having discovered that name to be a synonym, and also having evi- dently lost somewhat of his faith in the validity of the genus, reduced it to Calais; yet with express misgiving, and not without bespeaking for it another generic name in case it should ultimately demand restoration to that rank. Under that very appropriate name, Ftilocalais, I propose its rein- statement.
44 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
There is a perennial, acaulescent plant of northern habitat which, although ndmitted by Dr. Gray into his superlatively h^mplified Microseris, is, in my opinion, to be excluded from 8co7^zoneUa, to which it is more related than to any other recognized genus. The palene of its pappus are soft and slender, ending in a sharp, but hardly awn-like point: its involucre has a peculiarity, and the heads are never nodding. The specific name, troximoides, was given on account of the close resemblance which the species bears to Troximon cus- pidatum. But this last-named plant appears to be entirely out of place in Troximon; for its pappus is composed, partly of capillary bristles, and partly of very narrow palese. My conclusion is, that these two plants will constitute the most perfectly natural genus in the whole group, and I so place them, adopting the name which Dr. Gray coined for sec- tional use under his Microseris.
The form of the akenes in these genera, whether turbinate or cylindrical with truncate apex, or whether more or less attenuate upwards, would seem to be of specific but not generic importance. The basal callosity, although not very seriously taken under consideration by Dr. Gray, appears to have merited more deliberate attention; for, in Microseris, as here defined, it manifests a character which runs through all the species, without reappearing in any of the other gen- era, except that there is a mere hint of it in Calais.
The aestivation of the pappus is of one character in all the genera. Whether the pale^e be five, or twice or thrice or four times that number, one^is always wholly exterior, and an opposite one interior, while all the others are regularly convolute. In 3Ecrosersis alone the species fall into two quite natural groups by a difference in the expansion of the individual palea?.
MICROSERSIS, Don.
Involucre oblong-cylindraceous to hemispherical, inner bracts in one or two series, equal, acuminate, tliin, with
CHICORIACEOUS COMPOSIT.E. 45
membranous margins; outer very short, calyculate. Re- ceptacle flat, slightly alveolate. Akenes terete, 8 — 10-costate, with a broad basal callosity, which is hollowed at the inser- tion and produced upward into a sharp, denticulate-scabrous, collar-like rim. Palese of the pappus 4-10 (usually 5), mostly short, tapering into a long or short scabrous awn, in one species nearly obsolete, the awn thicker but hardly flat- tened at base. Acaulescent, glabrous annuals, with entire or laciniately lobed on pinnatified leaves, and nodding heads on slender scapes, which are somewhat decumbent at base and not thickened above. Outer row of akenes commonly silky-villous; the others usually scabrous on the ribs. Palea3 of the pappus often villous exteriorily . Genus of very limited range east and west; not found east of the western base of the Sierra Nevada, but occurring near the coast, from the peninsula of Lower California to Oregon. — Microsersis, Don. Phil. Mag. xi. 388; Benth. & Hook, ii, 506, magna pro parte : Microseris § § Eamicroseris (excl. M. Forsteri) & Eu- calaiSj Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. ix. 208; § Eucalcds, Bot. Cal. i. 425, and § Calais (excl. sp.), Syn. Fl. ii. 418. Calais § Eucalais, DC. Prod. vii. 85; Calais ^ ^ Eacalais and Apliaa- ocalais, Gray, Pac. B. Rep. iv. 112.
^FaleceS, hoat-sha.jyed i. e., a, little incurved and the margins
involute.
M. PLATYCARPHA, Gray. — A span or more in height; head a half inch or less in length; main bracts of involucre about 8, oblong; akenes turbinate, 2 lines long; palene ovate, 2 lines long, tapering abruptly into a very short awn. Syn. Fl. ii, 420.
San Diego County, and on the northern part of the pen- insula below.
M. DouGLASii, Gray, 1. c. — A span to two feet high; head about f inch long; bracts linear-oblong; akenes oblong-tur- binate, contracted under the summit, 3 lines long; palese
46 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
ovate, 2 lines long, tapering abruptly into an awn of the length of the akene.
Monterey to Humboldt County. Common and extremely variable as to the villosity of the pale^e and outer row of akenes.
M. Paeishii. — Rather smaller and more slender than the last; akenes slender, strictly columnar, 2 lines long or more, dark brown; palese lanceolate, 3 lines long, very gradually tapering to an awn of a line or a line and a half.
Near San Luis Eey, April, 1881, S. B. Parish; near Tu- lare, 1882, Dr. C. C. Parry; also collected by the writer near San Diego, 1885.
A very distinct species, evidently belonging to the south- ern part of the State.
M. ATTENUATA, Greene. — A few inches to a foot and a half high; involucre J — f inch long; akenes 4 lines long, at- tenuate-fusiform, the narrowed upper half vacant; palese oblong-lanceolate, a line and a half long, tipped wdth an awn of twice that length. Bull. Torr. Club, ix, 111; Gray, 1. c, 419.
Near Berkeley, and eastward to the valle3'S of the Sacra- mento and San Joaquin.
^"^Palece straight and flat, 5, except in the last species.
M. ACUMINATA, Greene. — Size and aspect of the last, the heads an inch long; akenes slenderly fusiform-turbinate, 3 lines long; palese 4 — 5 lines long, lanceolate, very gradually tapering to an awn of 2 — 3 lines. Bull. Torr. Club, x, 88; Gray, 1. c.
Same range as the last species, and rather more common.
M. BiGELOVii, Gray, 1. c. — A foot in height, more or less: head about a half inch: akenes oblong-turbinate, hardly 2 lines long: pale^e oblong- to ovate-lanceolate, much smaller
CHICORIACEOUS COMPOSITE. 47
tlian in tlie preceding species, but variable in length : pass- ing into an awn twice or tliriceas long.
Common in the middle coast section of the State: the awn very long in proportion to the palea.
M. ELEGANS, Greene. — A span or more high, slender: head less than a half inch : akenes turbinate, little more than a line long : paleee ovate-deltoid, a half line long, the slender awn about 2 lines. — Gray, 1. c.
From the mesas back of San Diego to the plains east of Mt. Diablo. Seldom collected, but perhaps not very rare.
M. APHANTOCARPHA, Gray, 1. c. — Twelve to eighteen inches high, and rather stout : leaves laciniate-toothed or nearly en- tire, seldom deeply pinnatifid: heads a half inch high, many- flowered, and subglobose: akenes oblong-clavate, hardly 2 lines long: palete minute and very broad or nearly obso- lete, the bristles very slender and fragile, about 3 lines long.
Common in the region of San Francisco Bay, and ex- tremely variable as to the pappus, which consists often of bristles with thickened, rather than paleaceous base. It is possible that we have here two or three species, but more probably they are mere forms, passing imperce^^tibly into each other. The leaves are less dissected in this than in any of the others.
M. PYGM.EA, Don. — About a span high: akenes 1 — 2 lines long, slenderly turbinate: paleee 10, lanceolate, a line or more long, slightly notched at the apex, and tipped with a somewhat barbellate awn of about 2 lines. — Phil. Mag. xi. 388; Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. ix. 209.
Native of Chili. The North American species which looks most like this type of the genus is M. Bigelovii. The principal difference between them is in the number of the paleoe and the slight notch at the apex of those of M. ijyg- moea, Avhich species in that respect only betrays an affinity with the following genus.
48 CALIFORNIA ACADEiVIY OF SCIENCES.
CALAIS, DC. sens, restr-
Involucre conical, scarcely calyculate, bracts imbricate, the outer successively shorter, all thin and scarious-mar- gined. Receptacle flat, centrally more or less alveolate- chaffy. Akenes terete, 8 — 10 costate, the basal callosity not enlarged. Pale^e of the pappus 5, elongated, flat, bifid at apex and short-awned. — Subaculescent annuals, all West North American, with laciniately-lobed or pinnatifid leaves, and erect heads, on strict, erect peduncles which are fistu- lous-thickened above. Akenes all alike, glabrous, with scab- rous cost 83. Palese of the pappus glabrous and more or less denticulate. Genus of few species but of wider range than the last, the typical species occurring eastward to the borders of Colorado and Texas, and on the Pacific shores, from British Columbia to the island of Guadalupe . Calais § Galocalais DC. Prod. vii. 85; Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Am. ii. 471; Gray, Pac. R. Rep. iv. 112. Species of Ificroseris, Gray, Proc. Am. Acad, ix, Bot. Cal. i. and Syn. Fl. ii.
^Palce bright, ivhite, soft, deciduous from the nearly black akenes.
C. LINEARIFOLIA, DC, Prod. 1. c.— Species of the widest range, and of much variability as regards the height of the stem and the number of flowers in each head. Sometimes nearly acaulescent, and with very large heads; but around San Diego the stem is slender and often more than a foot high, the heads being few-flowered; but the bright pappus, promptly deciduous from the mature, almost rostrate-atten- uate, black akenes readily distingaishes the species in all its forms, whether on Guadalupe or in New Mexico, Wash- ington Territory, or California.
"^"^Palece brownish, of firm texture, persistent on the light colored akenes.
-\-~ Awn of pappus shorter than the palea.
0. LiNDLEYi, DC. — Glabrous, a foot or two high: akenes 5 — 6 lines long, slightly attenuate toward the summit; palea
CHICORIACEOUS COMPOSIT^E. 49
linear-lanceolate, 4 lines long, the awn very little shorter. — Prod. 1. c. ; Microseris, Gray, 1. c.
From San Francisco to San Diego; equally as common as the first species.
0. Parryi, G-ray. Furfuraceoas-puberulent, 6 — 8 inches high: akenes 3 lines long, and not at all attenuate; palea softer than in the last, its awn less than half as long. — Pac. R. Rep. iv. 112; Microseris, Gray, 1. c.
Common from the plains back of Mt. Diablo to San Diego: easily mistaken for small C. LincUeyi, but, on closer inspection, appearing clearly distinct. The fruit is here for the first time described. The species does not appear to have been collected save by Dr. Parry, in a very immature condition, and by the present writer; but it is no rarity in the field.
H~ -5- Aiun of the pappus longer than the palea.
0. MACROCH^rA, Gray. — Like 0. Lindleyi in size and as- pect, but akenes shorter and more attenuate at summit; palea short, only a third as long as the awn, and cleft to the middle.— PI. Fenld, 112; Pac. R. Rep., 1. c.
From Oregon to San Diego, but very rarely collected.
C. Kelloggii. — Also resembling G. Lindleyl: akenes 3 — 4 lines long, attenuate at each end: palea a third the length of the awn, and with a shallow notch.
San Bruno Mountains, near San Francisco, Dr. Kellogg.
SCORZONELLA, Nutt.
Involucre campanulate; bracts herbaceous, imbricated in in several series, the inner long-acuminate, the outer suc- cessively shorter and acute. Receptacle flat or convex, fov- eolate or alveolate. Akenes linear, or somewhat turbinate, 8 — 10-costate or -striate, truncate at summit, the basal cal- losity acute and not expanded, areola lateral. Pappus of about 10 (in one species 5) ovate or lanceolate paleoe, tipped
'50 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
with a generally mucli longer, straight, scabrous or barbel- late bristle or awn. Glabrous perennials with fusiform roots, stems mostly leafy at base with laciniate foliage, and long-pecluncled heads which are nodding in the bud. In- habiting wet grassy grounds, chieliy in the mountain dis- tricts from middle California to British Columbia, with one species in the high mountains of Australia and New Zealand. Flowering in summer. — Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. vii. 426; Torr. & Gray FL ii. 470; Benth. & Hook. Gen. PI. ii. 533. Calais g § Scorzonella & Anacalais, Gray, Pac. R. Rep. iv. 113. Microseris § Scorzonella, Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. ix. 208 and XX. 300, Bot. Cal. i. 424, and 8yn. Fl, ii. 417 (excl. M. Parryi.
"^Caulescent. — North American species.
S. MEGACEPHALA. — Glaucous, Robust, 2 — 3 feet high : leaves oblong, acuminate, entire above the middle, laciniate- toothed toward the clasping base, 6 — 8 inches long : pedun- cles stout, a foot long: heads hemispherical more than an inch high, 2 inches broad, 200 — 225-flowered: bracts of the involucre 40 or more, imbricated in 4 — 5 series, exterior round-ovate, innermost ovate-lanceolate, all (the outer very abruptly) long-acuminate: akenes 2 lines long, somewhat turbinate: pappus brownish and firm, of 5 ovate-lanceolate palese a line long, tapering to an awn of 3 — 4 lines.
Eel River, Mendocino County, 1866, H. N. Bolander, being a part of his number 4737. A single specimen only, differing from the next species, not in habit or general ap- pearance, but remarkably distinct from it in the characters of the involucre, akene and pappus.
S. PBOCERA. — Leaves more laciniate: not acuminate : heads narrower, 100 — 150-flowered: bracts of involucre 25 or more, in 2 — 3 series, the exterior ovate, innermost ovate- lanceolate, all acuminate : akenes nearly columnar, 3 lines long: pappus brownish, the paleae 10 (as in all the follow- ing) lanceolate, passing into a thrice longer, barbellate
CHICORIACEOUS COMPOSITE. 51
awn. — Microseris laciniata var. procera, Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. ix. 209 Bot. Cal. i. 424; 31icroseris jprocera, Syn. Fl. ii. 417.
From Sonoma county to the borders of Oregon.
S. PEATENSis. — Leafy at base only, the scapose peduncles 2 feet high: leaves linear, lanceolate, long-cuminate, entire, a foot long: heads an inch high and nearly as broad; bracts 16 — 20 in 3 series, ovate — to lanceolate — acuminate: akenes 2 lines long; pappus white, 4 lines, the triangular-ovate palea J line.
Sunny and rather moist meadow lands at Yreka, in the northern part of the State, collected by the writer June 21, 1876, and distributed by him under number 883 as Microseris laciniata var. lorocera. It is readily distinguishable from the preceding and the following by its long, scapose pe- duncles, and narrow, entire, long, slender-pointed foliage.
S. LACINIATA, Nutt. — Stem less robust and more branch- ing and leafy than in the last : leaves pinnately parted, the segments narrowly linear, an inch or more long: heads a half inch high; bracts 16 — 20, from round-ovate to lanceo- late, all abruptly acuminate: akene 2 lines long: pappus white, about 3 lines, the ovate-lanceolate palea less than a line.— Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. P vii, 426: Torr. & Gray, Fl. ii. 470. Microseris, Gra^^, 1. c.
Northern borders of California to the confines of British Columbia.
S. LEPT03EPALA, Nutt., 1. c. — Bracts of involucre in 2 dis- tinct series, the ovate outer ones 5 or 6 only, and hardly more than calyculate to the numerous, lanceolate inner ones, akenes, white jDappus, etc., in all their parts more elongated than in the last species; foliage less divided, often merely toothed. Torr. and Gray, 1. c. ; Microseris, Gray, 1. c.
Same range as S. laciniata, from wdiich it differs very ob- viouslv in the character of the involucre.
52 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
S. BoLANDEKi. — A foot or more high; leaves linear-lanceo- late, entire or with a few linear lobes; bracts of involucre regularly imbricated in two or three series, all gradually at- tenuate from a broad base; pappus brownish, 5 lines long, the ovate palea not more than a half line. Microseris, Gray, Syn. Fl. ii. 418.
Mendocino and Humboldt counties, and northward.
S. HowELLii. — Size of the last; leaves with refracted lobes or teeth; heads narrower. 15-20-flowered; akene 3 lines long; pappus white, a half inch, the palea lanceolate and nearly as long as the awn. Microseris, Gray, Proc. Am. Acad., XX, 300; Syn. Fl. Sup pi., 454.
Southern Oregon, collected only by Mr. Howell.
S. PALUDOSA. — Stems numerous, slender, 2 — 3 feet high; leaves a foot long and from subentire to laciniate-parted, the segments long and narrow; head an inch high, 50 — 75- flowered; bracts 20 — 25, all tapering from a lanceolate base into a long and slender acumination, the outer successively shorter; akene 2 lines long; pappus brownish, the firm lan- ceolate palea of a line or more passing gradually into a bar- bellate awn of 4 or 5 lines. llicroseris sylvatica, var. Still- mani, Gray, Bot. Cal., I.e. and Syn. Fl. 1. c.
Marshy grounds in the vicinity of Mt. Tamalpais, and in other localities not far from San Francisco Bay. Here de- scribed from excellent specimens obtained by Mrs. Curran at Corde Madera, Marin Co. Most distinct from the fol- lowing.
S. SYLVATICA, Benth. — A foot or two high, mostly simple and monocephalous : head an inch high, 30 — 40-flowered: bracts broader than in the preceding and more abruptly acuminate: akene 3.^ lines long, columnar, the base a little attenuate: pappus sordid, the lanceolate paleae 5 lines, tapering to a subplumose awn of 3 lines or less. — PI. Hartw. 320. Calais, Gray, Pac. B. Eejj. iv. 112. Microseris, Gray, 1. c. excl. var. Stillmani.
CHICORIACEOUS COMPOSITE. 53
From Contra Costa to Colusa Counties, on wooded hills. Leaves commonly laciniate-pinnatifid as in most species.
S. MONTANA. — Kesembling the preceding, but stouter, the foliage less deeply laciniate: akene linear-columnar, not nar- rowed below, 5 lines long: pappus light brown: paleae linear- lanceolate, truncate or slightly notchod at the apex, only 3 lines long, its short-plumose awn a little longer.
Mountains of Kern County above Tehachaj)i Pass, June, 1884, Mrs. Curran.
A coarser plant than S. sylvatica, with very different fruit. The awn though really plumose, does not bring this species into troublesome proximity to Ptilocalais, for it is short, straight, and of firm texture.
^^Acaulescent. — South Pacific species.
B. SCAPIGERA. — Scorzonera scapigera, Forst. Prod. 91; Scorzonera Lcaorencii, Hook. f. Lond. Journ. vi. 124; Phyl- lopappus lanceolatus, Walp. in Linntea, xiv. 507; Microseris Fosteri, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. and Fl. Tastn. i. 226; Benth. Fl. Aust. iii. 676; Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. ix. 209.
High mountains of Australia and New Zealand. Outer bracts of involucre somewhat calyculate, as in our S. leptose- pala. More strictly scapose than any of our species, and a smaller plant; commonly less than a foot high.
PTILOCALAIS, (Gray, Pac. E. Kep. iv. 113).
Perennial root, foliage, involucre, receptacle, etc., as in Scorzonella. Pappus bright white, soft and fragile, double, namely, of a single short, external bristle, and 15 — 20 short, truncate or emarginate paleas, terminating in a long, grace- fully recurving, soft-plumose capillary bristle or awn. — Ftilo- phora, Gray, PL Fendl. 112. Calais § Ptilophora, Gray, Pac. R. Rep.l. c; Microseris § Ptilophora, Gray, Proc. Am. Acad, ix. 208, Bot. Cal. ii. 423, Syn. Fl. ii. 416.— Genus with the habit of Scorzonella, but pappus resembling that of Stephano-
54 CALIFOENIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
meria, supplemented by the single exterior bristle of Mala- cothrix. Geographical range somewhat limited north and south, but extending from central California to Utah.
P. NUTANS. — ScorzoiieUa, Geyer in Hook. Lond. Journ. vi. 523; Ptilophora, Gray, PI. Fendl. 112; Calak, Gray, Pac. R. Kep. iv. 112; Stephanomeria intermedia, Kellogg, Proc. Cal. Acad. V. 39; Microseris nutans, Gray, 1. c. excl. var. major,
British Columbia and Montana to the high Sierras of northern and middle California.
P. MAJOR. — Ptilophora, Gray, PL Fendl. 1. c; Calais^ Gray, Pac. E. Rep. 1. c; Microseris major. Gray, 1. c. excl. var. laciniata. Utah and Idaho.
P. GRACILILOBA. — Calais graciloha, Kellogg, Proc. Cal. Acad. 1. c; Microseris major, var. laciniata. Gray, l..c.
Still known only from Mendocino County, California; the specimens too young, yet by their pubescence and other characteristics, clearly enough representing a distinct spe- cies.
NOTHOCALAIS.
Involucre oblong-campanulate; bracts in two series, nar- rowly lanceolate, membranaceous, with thinner, somewhat hyaline margins, nearly equal, none calyculate. Recepta- cle fiat, alveolate. Akenes fusiform, contracted or rostrate- attenuate at summit, 10-striate-ribbed. Pappus very white and soft, of 10 — 30, scabrous-margined, narrow, unequal palese, with or without some capillary bristles. — Microseris § Notho- Calais, Gray, S\ n. PL ii. 420, with Troximon cuspidatum, Pursh, added. Perennials with linear-attenuate, undulate or crisped radical leaves marked by white-tomentulose mar- gins, and monocephalous, scapose peduncles. Habitat from Northern California to British Columbia and eastward to the Great Lakes, on dry, open rocky places.
N. SuKSDORFii. — Akene slender, 5 lines long, rostrate-at-
CHICORIACEOUS COMPOSITE. 55'
tenuate, only half occupied by the seed : palete 10 — 12, very narrow and nearly equal, strictly linear-attenuate, a half inch long : involucre villous-tomentose or glabrate : scapose peduncles exceeding the radical leaves.
Western part of Klickitat County, Washington Territory, April and May, 1882, W. N. Suksdorf.
N. TROXIMOIDES. — Akene fusiform, scarcely 4 lines long, merely contracted summit, nearly filled by the seed: paleae 20 — 25, lanceolate below, very unequal, a half inch long: involucre and peduncles as in the last. — Microseris troxhuoides, Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. ix. 211; Bot. Gal. 1. c: Syn.Fl. 1. c.
Northern California to Oregon and Idaho.
N. CUSPID ATA. — Akene little contracted, 3 lines long, filled by the seed : pappus of 40 — 50 unequal, very narrow, setose paleae and scabrous bristles: leaves all radical, longer than the flowering scapes: involucre glabrous. — Troximon Pursh, Fl. ii. 742; Torr. k Gray, Fl. ii. 489; Gray, Syn. Fl. ii. 437: T. marginatum, Nutt. Gen. ii. 127.
On bleak, stony hills and fertile prairies, from Dakota and Colorado to Wisconsin and Illinois. Scarcely distin- guishable from its far Western congeners except by the pappus. The undulate-crisped, white-hairy margins of the grassy leaves of this giving it an aspect so strikingly unlike the general appearance of the other species of his genus Troximon, were points not overlooked by that well traveled and most keenly observant botanist, Mr. Nuttall. That he noticed the peculiarity and was impressed by it is evinced by his effort to invest the species with a new specific name, marginatum, more appropriate than Pursh' s cuspidatmn, which was given to it in reference to the acuminate rather than cuspidate bracts, and has, therefore, no fitness, but which must needs be retained in deference to its priority. The name marginatum would, indeed, be equally and in the same way, applicable to each of the three known species of Nothocalais,
56 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
2. Some, species 0/ Euphorbia, g Anisophyllum.
E. Parishii. — Suffrntescent, prostrate, glabrous and glaucescent: leaves thick, round-ovate, entire, veinless, 1 — 2 lines long: stipules setaceous, entire or cleft, obscurely barbellate above: glands minute, sliort-stipitate, cupulate, marginless, dark red: seed linear-oblong, | line long, quad- rangular, faintly rugose.
Warm Springs on the Mohave Desert, May, 1882, S. B. Parish, No. 1384.
This plant wears the aspect of E. polycarpa, but has the peculiar flowers of that very dissimilar species, E. ocellata, which is annual, with much larger, veiny leaves, and round- oval seeds.
E. Neo-Mexicana. — Glabrous, light green or glaucescent; a span high, erect-spreading, the few ascending branches acutely angled: leaves linear-oblong, veinless, with a few serrate teeth toward the truncate or retuse apex, the sides entire and revolute: stipules setaceous, mostly bifid, ascend- ing or erect: glands minute, green, with a narrow, white or greenish appendage: seed light gray, indistinctly rugose, acutely 4-angled, thrice as long as broad, the upper half gradually tapering. — E. huBqailatera, Eagelm. Mex. Bound, as to the plant of New Mexico. E. serpijlU folia, var. consan- giiiuea, Boiss. DO. Prod, xv" 43, with the same limitation.
The above character is drawn from specimens of my own collecting, on the plains of the upper Gila in western New Mexico. The sub-erect habit, somewhat wing-angled stem and tew branches, must separate this New Mexican plant from the wholly prostrate, terete-stemmed E. serpyllifolia. The specimens from California, wliicJi the authors referred to have classed with this, must belong to the following. Nothing like E. Neo-Mexicana has appeared from any local- ity west of the Gila Plains.
E. SANGUINEA, Hochst. & Steud. — Glabrous, deep green,
EUPHORBIA § ANISOPHYLLUM. 57
becoming red with age, not glaucescent : a span to a foot high; erect and simple base of stem an inch or two high, parting abruptly into numerous almost horizontally spread- branches: leaves obovate- to spatulate-oblong, with 3 — 4 pairs of pinnate veins, the margin serrulate above the mid- dle: stipules setaceous, entire or somewhat lacerate, spread- ing or deflexed : glands minute, dark red with narrow rose- colored appendages: seed dark gray, faintly rugose-pitted, scarcely twice as long as broad. — Boiss. 1. c. 35: E. serpylli- folia in part, of Watson, Bot. Cal. ii. 74: E. inoequilatera, Engelm. Mex. Bound. 1. c. as to the Calif ornian plant, doubtless.
Described here from specimens collected by the writer, in Napa county, Cal., October, 1882. E. serpyUifolia, besides being wholly prostrate has veinless leaves, and is very brittle, by the absence of fibrous tissue; but the stem and branches of this plant are almost as tough as those of flax. It has the erect-spreading habit, but not the foliage nor the sharply angular branches of E. Neo-Mexicana, which latter is also brittle like E. serpyllifolia. Our Calif ornian plant matches well African specimens of E. sangii'mea.
E. RUSBYi. — Annual, pubescent, a span to a foot high, branches ascending: leaves oval, nearly sessile, very ob- lique, the major side cordate, serrate, and with a single veinlet su^Dplementary to the mid -vein : stipules parted to the very base into a pair of slender, erect, ciliate sette: glands small, orbicular, cup-shaped, with a reniform, entire, rose colored appendage: seed quadrangular, rugose-pitted, red- dish.
Northern part of Arizona, 1883, Dr. H. H. Kusby.
E. VELUTIXA. — Velvety canescent: branches and branch- lets numerous, prostrate, forming a close mat: leaves crowded and almost sessile, veinless, the lower orbicular and coarsely toothed, the floral obovate-oblong and mostly en-
5— Bull. Cal. Acad. Sci. II. 5. Issued March 6. 1886
58 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
tire: stipules short, setaceous, entire, deciduous: glands transversely oblong, dark red-purple, with a deep, flabelli- form, crenate, white or pinkish appendage : seed light gray, rather sharply angled and faintly rugose.
Probably Lower California, but the specimen has no ticket.
3. New Polypetake.
Ranunculus Bolanderi. — Stem stout, erect, U — 3 feet high, from a flesh} -fibrous, perennial root: glabrous below, the peduncles and calyx pubescent: leaves lanceolate, the radical on very long petioles, the cauline sheathing, margin obscurely repand-denticulate : petals bright yellow, broadly obovate, thrice the length of the sepals; akenes numerous, in a globose head; beak slender, acute, somewhat incurved.
Long Yalley, Mendocino County, May, 1886, H. N. Bo- lander, No. 4730.
This large and showy species has the general appearance of R. Lingua of Northern Europe; but that has its akene tipped by a stout, blunt style. The transversely elongated, inflexed callosities which are distributed along the margin of the leaf, together with the great size of the plant, dis- tinguish this Coast Eange species from its allies of the Sierra Nevada, B. Lemmoni and B. alismcefolius.
Ranunculus Ludovicianus. — Pilose-pubescent, a foot or two high : branches ascending or depressed, stout and fistular : leaves ternately parted, the segments broad and with some conspicuously callous-pointed lobes or teeth: calj^x reflexed, petals 10 — 15, a half inch long: akenes in a globose head, cuneate-obovate, a line and a half long, thickened upwards, marginless, tijDped with a short, slender, recurved style.
High valleys among the mountains of San Luis Obispo County, California, and eastward to Tehachapi Pass. Col- lected by Mrs. Curran, in 1884. A large-flowered showy species, covering the ground in many places with its de- pressed flowering stems and branches.
NEW POLYPETAL^. 59
Meconella denticulata. — Three to ten inches high: radi- cal leaves entire, the laminal portion rhombic-ovate, acutish : cauline spatulate to linear, obtuse, sharply denticulate: petals narrowly oblong, 2 lines long: stamens 6 — 9.
Temecula Canon, north of San Luis Rey, in San Diego County, Cal., March 27, 1885, by the writer.
The genus Meconella, with its few stamens, filiform fila- ments, narrow stigmas and slender, spirally-twisted capsules, together with its peculiar habit, seems more unlike Platy- stigma a good deal than that genus is unlike Platystemon. Hence the action of Messrs. Bentham and Hooker in reduc- ing it to Platy stigma, appears to have been rather arbitrary. This new species has the small flowers of the original 31. Oregana, Nutt., but the leaves of the stem are denticulate.
Aegemone cokymbosa. — Annual or biennial, a foot or two high, robust, simple below^ corymbosely branched above, armed throughout with rigid, straight, spreading spines: leaves rather crowded, 1 — 3 inches long, oval, entire or with shallow, rounded lobes, closely sessile by a broad, some- what clasping base: flowers white, small, numerous, in an ample corymbose, terminal cyme: capsule oblong-ovate, acuminate, barely an inch long, spinose, 4-valved.
Mohave Desert, June, 1884, Mrs. Curran.
A peculiar species, very leafy, none of the leaves pinnat- ifid, the uppermost quite entire. The many, small, corym- bose flowers mark it at sight as a very distinct, not to speak of the uniformly quadrivalvular, taper-pointed capsules.
Dkaba Sonoe^. — Annual, leafy at ba?e, sparingly pubes- cent with branching hairs : flowering branches sleoder, race- mose from the base: leaves spatulate-oblong, or obovate with cuneate base, coarsely few-toothed: pods oblong-lan- ceolate, 2 — 3 lines long, on ascending pedicels of about a line: petals white, minute, little exceeding the sepals, rather deeply emarginate.
60 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
Northwestern Sonora, March, 1884, collected by Mr. Pringle, and distributed nnder the name D. cimeifolia, var. hrevijjes, Watson; but the minute, emarginate petals, branches racemose throughout their whole length, and pods on not only shorter but ascending or sub-erect pedicels, mark it as distinct from D. cimeifolia.
4H'^if^^^
^ - .^.. ^..j v^J
CALIFORNIAN COLEOPTERA. 61
A NEW SPECIES OF CAnFORNIAN COLEOPTERA.
By J. J. Rivers, University of California.
BRADYCINETUS. Horn.
Bradycinetus Hornii n. sp.
Male: Form robust, elliptical. Color ferruginous brown, shining; bead, tips of armature, margins of protborax and a spot near tbe outer margin of pro- tborax eitber dusky or black. Head: Clypeus trans- verse and feebly angnlate at tbe sides, tbe front edge rising increasingly backward, until just before reacbing tbe clypeal suture it ends in a well formed tubercle on eitber MALE. side; bebind tbe sutural line on tbe ver- head.
tex is a very prominent, stout, conical born in front of tbe base of wh'cb the surface of tbe bead is slightly coucave; three-fourths of tbe lower jDortion of the horn and tbe whole of tbe frontal area finely rugose. Antennae: funicle shining, chestnut; club paler, not shining. Thorax: subtriaugalar, deepest longitudinally through the center; noticeably wider than tbe elytra at tbt-ir juncture, and rather wider th m their greatest breadth; seen from above the front margin appears truncate in the middle, then trends obliquel}' forward to the angles which are prominent; sides straight for a short distance, pos- terior angles strongly rounded; posterior margin much extended in the mid- dle with distinct sinaations toward tbe angles. The front area deeply con- cave, surmounted by four well formed tubercles; two occapjang the center, bold and projecting over tbe concavity, two others, one on either side of tbe central two, situated near the anterior margin of tbe thorax at its exterior angles. The arja around tbe two anterior tubsrcles very ragosely punctate; and transversely across the disc are large distinct punctures nowhere ex- tending to the posterior margin. A well defined margin, refiexed at the sides, surrounds the whole. Elytra: very convex, obtusely rounded bebind, having fourteen well defined and regularly punctured striae, the interstices of which are fl;\tten3d and indistinctly wrinkled. The under side paler than the upper; dense fringes of Hght chestnut hair line the reflexed portion of tbe thorax and elytra, while the femora, tibia and tarsal joints, as well as the lower side generally, are well supplied with rather long chestnut hair. Length, .48 — .52 inch.
6— Bull. Cal. Acad. Sci. II. 5. Issued April 23, 1886.
62 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
Female: Form and color as in male. Labrnm project- ing, rugose, covering the mandibles. Head; clypeal mar- gin raised; a feeble tubercle just in front of the clypeal suture, immediately behind which is a central trans- verse ridge, undivided, slightly higher in the middle and slightly apiculate at either end. Antenna9 less robust than in the male. Thorax: very convex, shining; out- line obtusely triangular; anterior margin seen from FEMALE. above, truncate in the centre; angles j^roduced; sides
rounded; posterior margin much produced to meet the scutellum, sinuate toward the angles which are rounded; the front discal area characterized by a bi-lobed transverse riised line at either enl of which, outward and for- ward, is a well formed but depressed tubercle; behind which line the disc is dense with coarse corrugated punctures, which become scattered and plain, nowhere reaching the posterior margin, but taking a transverse course, barely reach the side margins, where they become less distinct. Elytra: much the same as in the male, but the interstices of the fourteen punctate striae a tdfle more wrinkled and much more convex. Length, smaller than the male.
Habitat: burrowing in the ground near the city of Sonora, Tuolumne Co., Cal.; found also in Sacramento Co.
The name selected for this species is intended to be a slight tribute of hon" or to Dr. Geo. H. Horn, the emiaent Coleopterist, as a slight return for many favors.
STRIDULATINa ORGANS.
Chas. Fiichs, Esq., having obtained living specimens of the above new species of Bradjcinetas discovered thit it pos- sessed the power of stridulating. His researches through coleopterological literature disclose nothing relative to the stridulating faculty in this genus. The latest work on class- ification, that of L3 Conte and Horn, makes no mention of it, and as these able authors always notice such biologic characters when aware of them, it is safe to affirm that the observations of Mr. Fuchs are new, and that to him belongs the credit of the discovery of these particulars.
The anatomical investigation by Mr. Fuchs of this beetle discloses the stridulating apparatus to be well developed, and to consist of three trans- verse bands situated respectively upon the fourth, fifth and
CALIFORNIAN COLEOPTERA. 63
sixth dorsal segments, that on the fourth segment showing boldest. Each of these bands is seen with a high power to consist of cernuous bristles set in oblique rows, alternating and interlacing Avith one another; the point of each bristle is bent downward, forming a bow, and the band, as a whole, gains elasticity by the pressure of each bristle thus bowed against the next in the series. The rubbing of these three bands against the edges of the elytra produces the stridula- tion. The examination of species of the allied genus Bolbocerus shows the same stridulating power, but the outline of the bands in each case so differs as to show spe- cific characters.
64 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LARVAL HISTORY OF PACIFIC COAST COLEOPTERA.
By J. J. EiVERS, University of California.
The study of systematic entomology affords the student but a dim idea of what insects are noxious and what are in- noxious. The distinctive characters upon which the sys- tematic entomologist builds classification need not be and generally are not the characters of prime importance to the economic entomologist. The names of many of the groups of Coleoptera afford a slight generalized description which is often misleading. In the present state of entomologic science, where systematic is given precedence over biology, it is dangerous to attempt to make a general statement of the habits of a single genus and impossible to generalize the habits of a group or family.
The most valuable contribution to the life history of American insects which is generally accessible is Dr. Pack- ard's " Insects Injurious to Forest and Shade Trees."* In his introduction the author states that this work is purely tentative and designed to elicit the results of the observa- tions of students of economic entomology. It is 'on that ac- count that I feel at liberty to comment upon or question certain of Dr. Packard's statements.
On page 118, op. cit: Prionus laticollis, Drury, is noted as injurious to the poplar. If Prionus destroys living trees in other parts of America it has no such destructive habit in California; in fact the charge against borers that they destroy trees is a very old one, but by no means substanti- ated by my own observations. P. Californicus goes through its transformations in the roots of oaks, but these roots were dead in every case observed by me and usually belonged to
*U. S. Entomological Commission, Bulletin 7, Washington, 1881.
6— Bull. Cal. Acad. Sci. II. 5. Issued April 23, 1886.
PACIFIC COAST COLEOPTERA. 65
stumps whose trunks had been felled years before. Last year I bred several from the decayed part of an old oaken chopping block. In fact Dr. Packard himself throws some doubt upon the destructive habit of P. laticollis, for in his note he quotes the report for 1872 of Prof. S. J. Smith, En- tomologist to the Connecticut Board of Agriculture, as fol- lows: " I have noticed it in logs of poplar, bass-wood and oak, and in the trunks of old, decaying apple tree.-;."
On page 137 op. c'lt. is the following: "We have found Buprestid and Longicorn borers in a dead sweet gum tree." The caption at the head of the page, *' Insects Injurious to the Sweet Gum," seems designed to lead to the inference that these borers killed the tree. But my observation is that the larv?e of insects of the two families noted feed only on dead wood.
Again, on the same page, Ptilinus basalis and Micracis hirtella are listed as injurious to the California Bay. These species are both found in Berkeley, and I have observed their habits for the last seven years, and as a result of such observation I am in a position to assert that they bore into the twigs of the tree mentioned only when dead, dried and decaying.
On page 71, op. cU., we find a figure of Oncideres cingu- latus in the act of girdling a hickory twig. In connection with this insect we meet with one of the most interesting and remarkable points in the whole range of insect biology. For, knowing that its larva will have to feed upon dead and sapless wood, this. beetle, at tho time of depositing its egg in the livinsj and easil}- penetrated green wood, has instinct or forethought to girdle the twig, and thus assure the future larva the conditions necessarj' for its metamorphosis.
The question, "Are Curculio larva lignivorous ?" has been partially discussed in Bulletin of the Brooklyn Ento- mological Society, vol. vii, page 150, by Warren Knaus, and in Entomologica Americana, vol. i, page 18, by W. H. Hai'rington. The question was brought up by the finding of
66 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
Wollastonia quercicola in cottonwood logs in an advanced stage of decay. The Curculios are a group of insects in systematic value the equivalent to a sub- order, and known as the Ehynchophora (Latreille), which bear certain intimate resemblances to one another in the perfect and final forms, while in their larval stage they may and certainly do differ in many particulars of habit. W. quercicola belongs to the Calandridse, a family abounding in species whose habit in the larval stage is preeminently to feed on dry food. The metamorphoses of the Ehynchophora (Latr.) are not at all well known, but I have bred the following, belonging to this sub-order, and have found them to be lignivorous in the larval stage :
PLA.TYRHINUS LA.TIROSTRIS Fabr. — Decaying oak stumps highly charged with mycelia of a fungus.
ScoLYTtJS DESTRUCTOR Oliv. — Dead sapwood of elm.
Mesitis Tardii Woll. — Decaying beech.
MoNARTHRUM HuTTONi Woll. — Yarious hard woods.
Hylesinus crenatus Fabr. — Dying ash.
Anthribus albinus Lin. — Old wood.
Brachytarsus scabrosus Fabr. — Elm bark.
Kyncolus — several species. — Bark of trees.
The foregoing are old world species of Curculios that do not affect a herbaceous diet; and the three following species are of similar habits.
SCOLYTID^.
MoNARTHRUM SCUTELLARE Lec. — Bark of dead Quercus agrifolia.
MoNARTHRUM DENTIGE RUM Lec. — Bark of dead Quercus agrifolia.
PACIFIC COAST COLEOPTERA. 67
MrcRACis HiRTELLi Lac— Dead branches of California laurel, Umbellularia Californica.
The Brenthidae are well known to have the general habit of perforating trees and of depositing a single egg in each hole thus made, by this means providing that the larva shall have a full supply of the wood upon which it feeds.
The question, then, should not be: are Curculio larvae lignivorous? but rather, how many have thab habit? In a great group like this of Curculios, comprising many forms varying greatly from one another, one can easily appreciate the fact that we meet with many different tastes and habits. Some are known to feed upon all kinds of grain in store; one finds its food in rice, another in barley, and others in maize. Many species of Balanius undergo their changes in nuts, the larva feeding upon the kernels; another group is to be found in Cynips galls; and one species, geographi- cally distributed from San Diego to Alaska, is to be found beneath seaweed upon the shores. Enough has been in- stanced to show clearly that we can draw no inference from the fact that two insects are found in the same natural group, that for that reason their habits are similar; and it is evident that a classification by habits would be of little aid to the systematic entomologist.
CHRYSOMELID^.
DiABROTiCA 12-punctata Oliv. — This is a most destruc- tive insect to our peach orchards, and is not as yet sufii- ciently studied. If it resembles in habit the eastern species of the genus, and feeds in the larva stage upon the roots of cereals, it may be possible torrid ourselves in some degree of this pest by some rotation of crops. In the meanwhile sprays and washes are beyond a doubt not only useless, but in most cases a positive injury. We shall have to study further before speaking positively of the larval history of this insect pest.
^8 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
The Ptinidse is a family of limited extent, whose habits seem to be very similar wherever members of it are found. In California I have observed the following :
MELANDRYID^.
DiRCiEA RiVERSii Lec. — Larva feeds in decaying trees of Madrona, Arbutus Menziesii. In trees in position the insect is found in the primary forks of the roots, and in prostrate logs among the more seasoned fibers of the wood.
PTINID^.
Ptinus interruptus Lec. — Black fungus of the laurel, Umbellularia Californica.
Ptinus quadrimaculatus Melsh. — Decayed Ceanothus thyrsiflorus.
Hedobia granosa Lec. — Dead branches of Umbellularia Californica.
Hadobregmus gibbicollis Lec. — Decaying wood of Myrica Californica and dead willow.
Vrilletta convexa. Lec. — Dead Quercus agrifolia.
Ptilinus basalis Lec. — Dead twigs of Umbellularia Cali- fornica.
SiNOXYLON DECEIVE Lec. — Any dead tree or unpainted wood, very partial to wine casks and oak barrels. Tlie dep- redations are done by the beetle while boring for a suitable place to deposit its eggs. Its burrow is straight across the grain of the wood, reaching the interior of the cask, causing waste and deterioration of the contents. Hot solution of alum applied to the outside of the casks will prevent bor- ing.
PoLYCAON Stoutii Lec.— Dead and dried willow.
PACIFIC COAST COLEOPTERA. 69
PoLYCAON CONFERTUS Lec. — Found boring into a slab of chestnut oak that had been deposited for years in the mu- seum of the University of California; also bred from the stem of dead apricot trees that had been grafted on a peach root.
There appears strong evidence that these trees were not destroyed by the borer, but through the influence of the '* black knot" on the roots, they being diseased with knobs as large as a man's fist on every root; while all the trees killed had the root diseased, only a portion was infested with the larva of this beetle.
Many similar observations made by myself and others go to show that in the larval stage this beetle is xylophagous. On the other hand, there is indisputable proof that this larva infests living trees by entering the twigs at the axils of the leaves.
Lyctus striatus Melsh. — Devastates furniture made of California laurel, Umbellularia Calif ornica. Dr. Packard, op. cif. p. 75, quotes Dr. LeConte as saying that it affects the trunks and branches of Carya tomentosa. This is not borne out by my observations, as I am well satisfied that the larva lives in dead and dry wood.
SCARAB^ID^.
PoLYPHYLLA DECEMLINEATUS, Say. Larva that produced this species was found in the earth from one to two feet from the surface, among root fibres of a coarse grass and roots of a Californian Laurel, Umbellularia Californica. The earth was sandy loam situated upon the banks of a river, and which is overflowed during the rainy season of the year.
Odontaeus obesus, Lec. This has a light chestnut larva with tufts of bristles surrounding each spiracle. Mandib- ular and clypeal portions well developed, redder in color and
70 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
thicker in texture than any other part. The legs are prom- inent. Feed upon rootlets of Umbellularia Californica. It is much infested with a small, pale-colored mite which is evidently parasitic on the species.
LUCANID^.
Platycerus Oregonensis (Westwood) — Dead trees of Photinia arbutifolia, Umbellularia Californica, Quercus ag- rifolia and Eucalyptus.
Platycerus Agassii Lee. — Decayed trees of Arbutus Menziesii; also in wood too much decayed to be identified.
Sinodendron rugosum Mann. — Decayed oak, Quercus ag- rifolia.
The 522 North American species of Cerambycidse are all borers; the insect deposits its egg in a hole perforated in the wood, and the larva penetrates further and further ac- cording to a rhythmic order peculiar to the species until its metamorphoses are completed. The following is a list of the Calif ornian species whose habits I have observed:
CERAMBYCID^.
Ergates spiculatus Lee. — Eotting coniferous trees. Bred from Sequoia sempervirens, Pinus insignis, Abies Doug- lasii, etc.
Prionus Califorjticus Mots. — Bred from rotten damp roots of Quercus agrifolia.
AsEMUM NITIDUM Lec. — Decayed Pinus insignis.
Hylotrupes ligneus Fab. — Dead trees of Libocedras decurrens.
Elaphidion imbelle Lec. — Bred from decayed oak near San Diego, Cal., by F. E. Blaisdell.
PACIFIC COAST COLEOPTERA. 71
HoLOPLEURA Helena Lee. — Dead twigs of Umbellularia Californica.
Rosalia funebris Mots. — Decaying Umbellularia Cali- fornica among the mycelia of some fungus.
Xylotrichus nauticus Mann. — Dead sapwood of the oak, Quercus agrifolia.
Xylotrichus planifrons Lee. — Dead branches of willow.
Necydalis l^vicollis Lee. — Decayed oak, Quercus agri- folia, and in dead Eucalyptus globulus.
Leptura l^ta Lee. — Dead Quercus agrifolia and Quer- cus sp.
Leptura crassipes Lee. — Decayed wood of Umbellularia Californica.
Synaphoeta Guexi Lee. — Dead limbs of California buck- eye, iEsculus Californica.
PoGONOCHERUS CRINITUS Lec. — Dead branches of Quercus agrifolia.
TROGOSITID^.
Trogosita yirescens Fab. — Dead Libocedrus and several kinds of oak.
CLERID^.
Thanasimus eximius Mann. — Dead twigs of Umbellularia Californica.
Among many entomological enigmas of long standing is one that is about being solved. From time to time in many parts of the United States, large luminous larvae of some Coleopteron have been found, and it has been conjectured that these larvae belong to some of the Elateridae, the gen- eral supposition being that they were larvae of the genus Melanactes. Every attempt at breeding them resulted in
72 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
failure because their natural food was unknown. I have recently found what their food consists of. Before making this discovery I had arrived, from a careful study of the anatomy of the mouth parts of these larvae, at the conclu- sion now confirmed that they are carnivorous in habit.
Their food consists of the vegetable feeding Myriapoda, particularly of Julus and Polydesmus with a preference for Julus, because the large area of the rings of this genus af- fords space for the larva to penetrate the interior of the Myriapod. Its manner of feeding is to seize the hinder part of the Julus, and perforate a segment, reaching the soft inner parts, which it devours at leisure, creeping through many segments without disjointing them, and re- maining inside these rings for days at a time, till one can see little else but the slowly wriggling form of the dying Julus.
I have a full fed larva, which I hope will go through its metamorphosis, and solve the problem. And now its mode of life is made known, other persons who are equally anx- ious with myself that nature shall yield this long kept secret, can apply themselves with renewed energy to the task of discovering the identity of the perfect insect.
NOTES ON SATURN. • 73
NOTES ON SATURN.
By Prof. George Davidson, A. M., Ph. D.
After midnight of Friday, tbe 13tli November, 1885, the atmosphere was unusually steady; sky clear; no wind; at- mosphere saturated with aqueous vapor; heavy dew falling. The satellites of Saturn were plainly visible with a moder- ate power to the equatorial of 6.4 inches objective. The planet was examined for nearly two hours with different powers, the best effects being obtained with powers of 300 to 350 diameters; and the summary of the matters of inter- est is as follows :
The Encke division was traced for 120° about each end of the major axis, leaving only 120° not seen. The division was faint but it was there, a little outside the middle of the ring A.
In the ring B the inner part presented such an appear- ance in its delicate shading as would arise from a rapid hor- izontal rotary motion being given to a disc of irregularly distributed and yielding matter. I could detect no atmos- pheric unsteadiness that would give rise to this phenomenon.
The dusky ring presented equally distinct ans}>3; on for- mer occasions I had been satisfied that they were sometimes of different brightness, and had endeavored to find some law for this variation. The dusky ring was well defined at the ansEe and across the body of the planet, but I was con- vinced that the limb of the planet was visible through the dusky ring, very nearly, if not quite up to the inner edge of ring B.
The shadow of the j)lanet was cast upon the preceding side, and where it reached the outer edge of the ring B^ it was recurved farther from the planet as if the outer edge of B had a round moulding above the general level of the plane.
6— Bull. Cal. Acad. Sci. H. 5. Issued April 23, 1886.
74 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
The markings of the phinet were quite distinct. The darker color of the pole was gradually toned down until it met the second moderately faint belt south of the equator. The second belt was quite dark but appeared to have a more marked darkness on the following side of the central line, where it should have been brighter on account of the sun- light. Then came the bright equatorial belt without mark- ings and north of it a narrow dark band about half as broad as the trace of the dusky ring across the planet, with a nar- row dark band about half as broad as the trace of the dusky ring across the planet, with a narrow lighter space between it and the edge of the dusky ring.
January 8, 1886. The atmosphere was unsteady, but at quiet moments I saw the Encke division by using a power of 250 diameters. Observations made with the Clark Equa- torial of 6.4 inches.
January 25, 1886. The atmosphere was wonderfully steady. I saw the dusky ring of Saturn with powers as low as 150 diameters, and the equatorial beltings were beauti- fully sharp. The shape of the shadow on the outer part of the B ring was apparently not so recurved as heretofore. I saw the limbs of the planet through the dusky ring to the inner edge of ring B. I was able to follow the grayish in- ner edge of the B ring across the body of the planet and in contrast with the dusky ring below it. The Encke division at the preceding part of the ellipse was clearly outside the middle of A; at the following part it was barely outside the middle of A; no difference of breadth of the Cassini divis- ion could be distinguislied at either extreme.
February 14, 1886. Atmosphere steady. Carried powers to 450 diameters. The Encke division clearly exhibited; on the preceding side it is outside the middle oi A, on the following side it is barely inside the middle of ^ ; I carry it well down to the narrow part of the ellipse. The dusky ring is well seen and it seems that the inner edge extends more than half way from B to the planet. The limbs of the
NOTES ON SATURN. 75
planet are seen tliroiigh the dusky ring and the inner edge of B. I cannot determine any difference of brightness be- tween the preceding and following parts of the dusky ring.
I have watched carefully and repeatedly a minute — ex- cessively minute — and wdiite protuberance on each side of the planet apparently off the broad bright equatorial belt, but really at the points where the faintly dark belt nearest the dusky ring disappears at either limb. This would seem to indicate that this faint dark belt is raised above the gen- eral surface of the splieroid.
March 31. 1886. To this date I have not been able, on account of atmospheric conditions, to test the last observa- tions of Februarv 14.
LIBRARY,
WEATHER TYPES ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 77
WEATHER TYPES ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
By W, A. Glassford, 2d Lient. Signal Corps, U. S. A. Assistant. (With Four Plates.)
A short study of the charted weather reports of the Pa- cific Coast, reveals certain types lasting for a considerable period which admit of classification. East of the Rocky Mountains, however, no such characteristics are present; the storms or cyclonic areas, as well as the anti-cyclonic or areas of high pressure generally originate in the Gulf of Mexico, the Eocky Mountain slopes, or in British America, and move in succession over a curved path almost invariably to the eastward at a uniform rate, and with uniform charac- teristics. They disappear as regularly near Nova Scotia. It is very seldom, if ever, that perfect paths of low pressure areas are traced from the Pacific Coast across the mountain plateaus and ranges, although some few cases have been charted on the storm track maps; but even these are not so uniform as in the East, for they frequently tarry for quite a period, clinging to some valley or plateau. On this coast a noticeable feature is the difference in the storm frequency between the northern and southern boundary lines of the United States. Areas of low pressure of any intensity are of infrequent occurrence in southern California, but going north become more frequent as Vancouver Island is ap- proached. From a search of the Weather Eeviews for three years, it is found that areas of low pressure entering the Pacific Coast states from the ocean during that period num- ber 90; those north of the 45th parallel are 54; between 45^^ and 40°, 25; between 40° and 35°, 10; below the 35th par- allel, 1. Another peculiarity of the areas of high and low pressure here is their arrangement in recurring and symmet- rical types; recurring, because there is a tendency to assume the same barometric condition on successive days; symmet-
7— Bull. Cal. Acad. Sci. H. 5. Issued Aug. 31, 1886.
78 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
rical, because the recurrence as denoted by the barometer takes about the same area, shape and intensity.
Except the November, and the greater storm of January last, and in fact the centers of these were the whole time at sea, there has been no distinct cyclonic area, such as ap- pear in the Eastern States, central over California during the past season. Those who examine the Signal Service synoptic charts with its reports may have observed " High" and *' Low" designated, but these are often such only by con- trast; the areas where the group of barometric readings, re- duced to sea level, are the greatest or the least that appear on the map, being so named.
Another observation may be noted. When severe and stormy weather prevails on this Coast, and especially in California, almost invariably the press dispatches announce from the East the prevalence of cold waves, snow blockades, tornadoes, etc. If complaint be made at any time that the climate of the Pacific Coast is in no way superior to the or- dinary Eastern weather, attention may be drawn to the fact that at that time cold waves, snows, etc., prevail over the East; if here the winds are high they are balanced by tor- nadoes or hurricanes there; if washouts delay travel on this slope, floods in the streams of the great Eastern valleys and seaboard do vastly more damage; if frosts nip the buds in our California citrus belt, in Florida oranges are frozen. Such is the action of storms on this Coast relative to the maigin of the great Arctic high pressure ridges which surge down from British Columbia. These coincidences show a common sensitiveness to distant weather conditions. Contrary to the usual rule in the states east of the Rocky Mountains, we have observed here a recurrence and per- sistence of fine clear weather, or of rainy days for quite a period. The interruptions are slight, of short duration, and the prevalent types are unmistakable. The synoptic charts during these periods show a general resemblance. For instance, during February last scarcely any rain fell.
WEATHER TYPES ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 79
In April we had almost constant rain from the 1st to the 17th, then followed suddenly clear weather to the month's end and after. The fact that the change from one type to another is so very sudden is what causes the difficulty on this coast in forecasting the weather. These phenomena, as aids to forecasting, I call weather types.
This study is only possible by reference to the reports of the observations taken three times a day simultaneously at 4 a. m., noon and 7 p. m., Pacific time, telegraphed to San Francisco and charted by entry on outline maps. Isobars and isotherms are drawn showing the belts or areas of like pressure and temperature, and symbols are added marking stations where rain has fallen or cloudiness exists. It is seen that map after map, day after day is almost identical. A persistence of some one barometric characteristic covers the same region. Applying the principle of composite pho- tography, taking a transparent outline map of the same scale as the weather map and drawing lines enclosing like areas, and continuing this process on the same transparent map, we have represented a great number of like areas su- perimposed upon each other.
We thus find the high or low barometer regions to cor- respond with certain characteristic conditions of cloudiness and rain, which remain stationary and hover over the same locality during the continuance of the high or low. For instance, grouping all the charts that have high pressure over Oregon, and the low over southeastern California, it is noticed that remarkably fine warm weather with northwest- erly winds continues for a succession of days, while this con- dition lasts. When the barometer changes, it does so sud- denly, and the weather changes with equal rapidity. The greater the number of these like features of barometer and weather found, the greater, of course, is the frequency of the type. Illustrating in the case of February last, it is found that a persistent high overlay the district embracing Oregon with parts of Nevada and Idaho. Plate II illus-
80 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
trates the superimposing of a series of daily charts showing this feature.
Indeed, if only the observations of a single station are studied, taking a specific instance of the recurrence of a persistent weather type, the list of days in which rain of any consequence fell on successive days in San Francisco during the last rainy season, shows six such periods lasting from six to fifteen days each. These periods of the rainy season, and the contrasting conditions of rain absence inter- vening, are the special object of this inquiry.
I now come to determining and naming these w^eather types, commencing with the rainy season of 1885-6. On November 1st, the first interruption of the dry season of 1885, disregarding some slight rains occurring prior to this date, began at the time when the high, which had moved inward from the coast with the advance of the season and finally hung stationary over the eastern slope of the Cascade Range, moved further eastward before the low area advanc- ing on the Washington Territory coast from sea. This low area spread south and brought the rainy season for San Francisco and this portion of the State. This type I call the
NORTH PACIFIC CYCLONIC.
It prevailed from November 1st to 10th, and from Janu- ary 11th to 14th, and is distinguished by a low barometer area of considerable depth over and to the westward of Or- egon and Washington Territory, which, striking the mount- ain range and high pressure to the eastward, cannot break over the barrier, and is held there with fluctuating depth for some time.
The high, which always exists somewhere in the margin of the low, continues central in the district north of Salt Lake. During the prevalence of this type, southerly gales occur from Cape Mendocino to Vancouver Island. Rain prevails and frequently becomes heavy over Oregon, Wash- ington Territory, in California south to San Luis Obispo
WEATHER TYPES ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 81
and in the San Joaquin Valley. The temperature through- out the coast is about normal. It is only when a subsidiary low is developed in southeastern California, locally called a *' Sonora Storm," that rain spreads over the southern part of the State, being generally of short duration. See Plate III as an example of the conditions existing during this type.
INTERIOR ANTI-CYCLONIC.
This second type closely resembles the preceding in that the interior high is well marked, but differs in that the low upon the coast is less in depth. This type pre- vailed from November 11th to 15th; November 25th to December 6th; December 14tli to 26th; January 27th to February 12th. It is characterized by a high barometer (about 30.30 inches) over Utah, Nevada and Southern Idaho. The accompanying low barometer on the north- ern coast drops down frequently to 29.70, and is cen- tral west of Washington Territory. These lows appear to beat against the high, the low area often dropping down for a short time nearly to Cape Mendocino. At other times they push the high southerly over Arizona and pass east- ward beyond our boundary. Again when the surge of high pressure is very great over Idaho, a low often pushes upon it from the southwest coast of California, at which time rain may occur in light showers on the southern coast. The rainfall, except as just mentioned, never passes south of San Francisco, and is generally limited to light showers in Oregon and Washington Territory. Gales are very strong from the southeasterly at Cape Mendocino and at the mouth of the Columbia River, north x)f which they come more from the south. The temperature is usually high, and at times, of steep gradients, from Nevada southward; near Los An- geles, the warm " Santa Anna" winds may occur. Plate III serves to illustrate this type if the pressure over Idaho and Nevada is considered about 30.30, and the low on the North Pacific Coast about 29.80 inches.
82 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
NORTH PACIFIC ANTI-CYOLONIC TYPE.
This type is very frequent, but sometimes of short dura- tion. It prevailed from November lOtb to 15th; December 7th to 13th; December 31st to January 10th; February 12th to 21st; February 23d to 25th; March 10th to 12th; March 23d to 28th; April 2d to 5th, and April 17th to 29th. AYhile this type is prevalent the high, as is implied by its name, rests over Oregon and Washington Territory, with a permanent low over southern California. It is attended with clear weather, only interrupted by an occasional shower near Vancouver Island. During its prevalence in its perfection and greatest intensity, and while the isobars are perpendicular to the coast line, is the time when the dreaded dessicating *' north wind" prevails in the Sacra- mento and San Joaquin valleys. The temperature is high during the day, especially after several days' continuance of the type, while at night frosts often occur. The winds are usually light and variable on the coast of Washington Territory and Oregon, but on the coast of California high with southerly gales. If in the spring during the preva- lence of this type high winds and sandstorms occur in southern California, they are almost sure to be followed by rain. The proverb that a succession of frosts is liable to be followed by rainy weather, obtains warrant from the fact that the breaking up of this type is usually foretold by frosts and most certainly followed by rain. The occurrence of this type on the first ten days of January, 1886, appears to bear a certain relation to the great surges of high pressure from the Arctic regions moving well westward over British Columbia. The isobar of 30.3 to 30.5 inches enclosed the area. The weather on the coast was unusually cool and clear; frosts extended into southern California. During this period remarkably cold weather was prevailing in the Eastern States. These surges of high pressure in their movement covering almost the width of the continent dur- ing the first ten days of January, caused the development
WEATHER TYPES ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 83
of intense cyclonic areas originating in the Gulf of Mexico or Texas and moving northeastward along the Atlantic coast, accompanied by the most severe cold Avave of the year east of the Eocky Mountains. Plate II illustrates this type.
THE GENERAL CYCLONIC TYPE.
This type is characterized by the most severe storms that occur on this coast. The rain area overspreads all sections, falling in torrents, and gales of the greatest violence with frequent thunderstorms occur, rivers overflow, and wash- outs impede travel. The barometer drops very low and suffers rapid fluctuations, and remarkable gradients occur between the coast and interior. Simultaneous with this type is a series of exceedingly high pressure waves over the Eocky Mountain plateau and states to the eastward, accompanied by severe storms and intense cold. During the last sea- son there were only two occurrences of this type, viz., from November 15th to 25th, and January 15th to 26th. The general feature is a cyclonic disturbance on the Pacific coast line, which, apparently unable to cross over the Sierra Nevada, seems to spread out over the entire length of our region, until it gradually wastes away or finds escape be- yond the limits of our field of observation. The occurrence of this type in January last is especially worthy of careful review. On the 15th another surge of high pressure fol- lowed the north Pacific anti-cyclonic of the first ten days of January, extending from British xlmerica over the Kocky Mountain region. On this coast was developed a series of storms among the severest in the history of the country. The temperature ^as very low in Montana, and spread its influence over portions of this coast, causing frost, snow, ice and unusual cold in portions of the Pa- cific States. Eains were heavy and almost continuous, gales frequent and severe, needing no description to those who were here at the time. The storm, as represented by
84 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
the barometer, was a series of most extraordinary fluctua- tious; tlie disturbance would suddenly appear at any given station, and after a few hours be scarcely perceptible, only again to appear at this or some other station. A diagram showing these fluctuations is interesting. The center ap- peared for a time to be over the interior valleys of Califor- nia, and not great in depth, and it was only upon consulting ship reports that it was found that the eye of the storm was far to the westward. This center appeared first upon the coast about 3 a. m., January 20th, off Point Conception, where the roughest weather was experienced. A few hours later it was reported off the mouth of the Columbia Kiver. From 5 to 8 A. M., about 175 miles southwest of San Fran- cisco, the Zealandia was in a southeast and southwest hurri- cane, with the glass at 29.23. The barometer, about the same time at San Francisco, was 29.31 inches; at 8 a. m., at Cape Mendocino, the barometer fell to 29.15, with the wind a hundred miles per hour from the S.E.; at noon it was 29.06, with the wind from the southeast and blowing with hur- ricane violence, carrying away the anemometer, after which accurate observations were interrupted for a few hours. At the same time the wind was southwesterly at San Fran- cisco, blowing 42 miles, but at Point Lobos, the south head of Golden Gate, six miles away, it was 96 miles an hour. The cyclone was off the coast of Oregon at 7 A. M., as shown by a pressure of 29.17; but by the following morning, the 21st, at 4 A. M., the pressure had risen, and the cyclone had completely vanished from the charts, and by 12 M. the isobar of 30.20 passed from Washington Territory through Oregon down to the center of California and out near San Luis Obispo. But one other isobar (30.10), drawing isobars for every tenth of an inch, appeared on the chart, and this enclosed northwest Washington Territory. The next morn- ing (22d) the cyclone reappeared at the mouth of the Co- lumbia River, here also carrying away the anemometer. It again subsided, and burst in once more the same day at the
WEATHER TYPES ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 85
Straits of Juan de Fuca, the glass going down to 29.00. Again almost disappearing, it came in upon the AVashing- ton Territory coast the 26th, the barometer falling this time to 29.15. On the 27th it was not to be seen, and if it passed eastward it did so far bej'^ond the northern boundary.
During this time severe washouts occurred in Southern California, and the telegraph lines were everywhere pros- trated. 1 find this type is not a frequent one, and comes only in such intensity as described at long intervals. The great storms of 1875 and 1879 are tlie only ones that can be ranked with this one. See Plate lY.
The next distinct type is the
SOUTH PACIFIC ANTI-CYCLONIC,
which appears as a moderate high along the southwestern California coast. It is peculiar on account of the rains which accompany it, being one of those types, which bring out many inquiries from those having and observing barom- eters, asking the question, how it is that we have rain with so high a barometer. It creates isobars somewhat perpendicular to the coast, bringing in the rain-bearing, southerly winds at San Francisco. It is noteworthy that any type exhibiting isobars perpendicular to the coast line is almost sure to bring rain, while if the isobars are parallel to the coast, fair weather follows. This type was in exis- tence from March 31st to April 2d, and from April 7th to 17tli. During its prevalence a faint low may exist in the north Pacific. Rain occurs in the interior California valleys and northward, also in the vicinity of Los Angeles. Should the general pressure fall considerably below the normal, but with the relatively high barometer continuing in the same region, gales with thunder and hail storms are fre- quent in southern California. TJie winds are not strong north of San Francisco, except when the barometer becomes very low, and such cases are few. This type disappears by the movement of the high along the coast into Oregon, and
86 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
ceases very suddenly. The temperature is unusually low» See Plate V.
SUB-NOEMAL TYPE.
This type is marked by a succession of days when the pressure is moderately low, and below the normal over a large area. The isobars are broken up, are wavy or enclose several subsidiary low areas, with an absence of any de- cided gradients. This type prevailed from February 26th to March 4th, and from April 5th to 7th. Kain at intervals occurs, frequent local storms, and thunder storms are re- ported. Occasionally a gale, but local in character, does coQsiderable damage. The winds are variable, and the weather cool and cloudy.
It might be well to add that the changes occurring in the cyclonic types follow a general principle that a disturbed equipoise recovers itself in proportion to the intensity and rate which the disturbance has originally developed. The greater the high, the greater the depth of the low which follows, and if the change is sudden, the appearance of the opposite condition is sudden. In meteorology, as in me- chanics, these vibrations of the disturbed equipoise are lia- ble to continue for some time in waves of gradually decreas- ing length before coming to rest; and the observance of this principle enables us to say that a disturbance is not defi- nitely passed although the synoptic charts give but little in- dication of its recurrence.
The dry season demands only the briefest consideration,, having but one general characteristic — high pressure over the sea and low over the land. The tjqoe of the dry season has about the sameness of the weather which accompanies it. The high is greatest and most persistent over the ocean and north Pacific coast, and lowest from Arizona to Nevada including eastern California. Almost the only peculiar fea- ture of the type is the occasional low over the central val- leys of California.
WEATHER TYPES ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 87
Bain is almost entirely absent when this type becomes perfectly established, and only occurs in light showers in Oregon and Washington Territory, when the high happens to drop down well on the California coast, creating a condi- tion similar to that of the " South Pacific Anti-Cyclonic Type," already described. Another feature of the dry sea- son is the development of considerable intensity of the high in Oregon, the pressure being at the same time very low in southern California, creating the northerly winds in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys.
The boundary between the wet and dry season would, I believe, be as definite as the sun's march north or south if not for these disturbing weather types, which bring into effect conditions overriding the gradual change of tempera- ture. It is well established that the temperature of the Pa- cific Ocean differs very little anywhere on the coast, and the monthly variation is so slight that it may be disregarded. We can in a general discussion say that the temperature of the ocean washing our shores is about constant. It is wholly different over the land, and the difference increases in proportion to the distance from the sea. In the winter, the prevalent type is such as to drive the ocean winds over a country where the temperature is cooler than themselves^ and where the condensing conditions are strong enough to well deplete them of moisture; hence rain results upon the western slopes and little remains for the Rocky Mountain country. During the summer, on the contrary, the winds from the Pacific Ocean passing at once over the drying country, do not precipitate their moisture at all till the Rocky Mountain summits condense them. Thus the rainy season is transferred from this coast to these higher regions. The change of one season to another is best illustrated by projecting the curve of surface temperature of the Pacific Ocean, with the mean daily temperature of a place in prox- imity to it, for instance, San Francisco. As soon as the air temperature curve permanently crosses the former, the
00 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
change of season takes place. A. specific case of this principle is discussed and well illustrated in the last Bul- letin of this Academy, by Prof. Davidson, in his paper on the air and water temperature at the Golden Gate.
Note — The plates show in figures for each station: 1st, temperature; 2cl, barometer; 3d, wind velocity and, when reported, the minimum velocity since the last report, in brackets; 4th, the amount of rainfall. The wind direction is shown by an arrow flying with the wind. The state of the weather at the time of the report is shown thus: cloudy or fine day, circles fully or one-half shaded; rain by L. K. or H. R., as it is heavy or light; S for snow.
TRANSITS OF THE II AND III SATELLITES OF JUPITER. 89
TRANSITS OF THE n AND IH SATELLITES OF JUPITER.
By George Davidson, U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. [Davidson Observatory, March 20th, 1886.]
About three o'clock in the morning of Sunday the 21st, I watched the transits of the II and III Satellites of Jupiter and their shadows. The shadow of the II Satellite was on the northern edge of the northern dark belt, but it was in- tensely black; the image of the satellite was probably a diameter from the shadow but was in the edge of the white part of the planet. This image was more than white; it was a hrilliant ivliite. The image of the III Satellite was yet three or four diameters outside the planet's limb; a few minutes before its first contact therewith the black image of the shadow of II was not so conspicuous as it had been, for I picked out the bright image of the satellite before seeing the dark shadow. I was using a power of 150 diameters.
About the time of the first contact of III, the sky became slightly hazy and I did not get the time of the contacts of the shadow with the planet's limb. After the shadow of the III Satellite was on the disc of the planet, and just after the first contact of III as a white image, the image of II became too faint to be certain of my seeing it.
The haziness or light fog increased, and the planet was in- visible to the naked eye, but occasional thin openings through the mist enabled me to see III and its shadow after both were certainly on the disc of the planet. For seven minutes after, the white' image was brighter than the body of the planet; both the shadow and image were transiting the disc where it was moderately clear of dark lines; ^^et the shadow was travers- ing the northern edge of a faint one. In fifteen minutes after the second contact, I noted the shadow of III, but could not see the image of the satellite. At twenty-three
7— Bull. Cal. Acad. Sci. II. 5. Issued Aug. 31, 1886.
90 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
minutes after second contact, the shadow was clear and black, but I could make out no image of the satellite.
When the II shadow was half way across the planet, I could not see the image of II at the clearest intervals.
At fortj-three minutes after the second contact of III, the shadow looked elongated; a minute later, I saw a small darkish speck where the image of III should be, and the shadow of this speck immediately suggested a balloon and its car. In place of the white image of the satellite, there was a small darkish speck, and as the seeing was difficult, I could not detect any definite form to it. This appearance continued until the satellite was nearly half way across the planet's disc. The planet was getting low down, day had broken, and the haze was increasing, so further observa- tions were discontinued.
Several sketches were made of the planet during the transits.
THE ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSE OF MARCH 5, 1886. 91
THE ANNULAR SOLAR ECUPSE OF MARCH 5, 1886.
By George Davidson, U. S. Coast aud Geodetic Survey. [Davidson Observatory.]
This eclipse was only partial at San Francisco, where four digits of the sun's diameter were obscured on the south- east border.
At San Francisco the clouds broke away about an hour before the time of first contact, and the atmosphere became moderately steady at that epoch. The sun's disc was marked by three large groups of spots north of the equator, and the details of these sj)ots became very sharply defined. The bright facuhe about the western group were plainly traced, and the rice-grain structure of the whole surface was easily made out.
The observations were made with the full aperture of the Clark Equatorial of 6.4 inches diameter, using a Herschel solar prism, and a power of about 170 diameters.
The first contact took place at Ih. 16m. 58.5s. local sider- ial time, and the second contact at 3h. 30m. 21.0s. The second contact is a good observation, because it is easy to watch the narrowing, dark segment of the moon, and also because the observer can almost proportion the rate of the rapid shortening of the two cusps. This observation is with- in a fraction of a second. The observation of the first con- tact is always more or less in doubt, because the dark limb of the moon must have made its impression upon the limb of the sun before the eye defects its approach; and this dark segment is relatively long and narrow. When the border of the sun is unsteady from the disturbance in the atmos- phere, the difficulty is still further enhanced. Neverthe- less, I consider the observation within a second or two.
During the progress of the eclipse the images of the sun
7— Bull, Cal. Acad. Sci. n, 5. Issued Aug. 31, 1886.
92 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
and moon were projected upon a white background, and exhibited as in a camera obscura.
The geographical position of tlie Davidson Observatory is latitude, 37° AT 24.75'' north; longitude, 122° 25' 40.54", or 8h. 09m. 42,70s. west of Greenwich.
The phenomenon was also observed with three-inch and smaller telescopes, by Messrs. Lawson, Morse, Welker and Hill, of the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
OFFICERS OF THE ACADEMY.
1886.
President,
GEORGE DAVIDSON.
ist Vice-President,
JUSTIN P. MOORE.
2d Vice-President,
JOHN T. EVANS.
Corresponding Secretary,
SAMUEL B. CHRISTY.
Recording Secretary,
CHARLES G. YALE.
Treasurer,
ELISHA BROOKS.
Librarian,
CARLOS TROYER.
Director of the Museum,
WILLIAM G. W. HARFORD.
Trustees,
GEORGE E. GRAY, THOMAS P. MADDEN,
CHARLES F. CROCKER, RALPH C. HARRISON,
LEWIS GERSTLE, JAMES M. McDONALD,
ROBERT W. SIMPSON.
Publication Coinviittce.
GEORGE DAVIDSON, JUSTIN P. MOORE, CHARLES G. YALE,
JOHN T. EVANS, EDWARD LEE GREENE.
W. Churchill, Editor.
BULLETIN fe'.
CALIFORNIA
'KS
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES,
Vol. 2, No. 6.
JANUARY, 1887
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
The Washoe Roclis. Geo. F. Becker 93
Provisional Value of the Latitude of the Lick Observatory. Geo. C.
Comstock 12 1
Studies in the Botany of California and Pnrts Adjacent. V. Edward
Lee Greene —
1. Some Genera Which Have Been Confused Under the Name
Brodisea 125
2. Miscellaneous Species, New or Noteworthy 144
On Tetraodon Setosus, a New Species Alliei to Tetraodou Meleagris
Lacep 155
Descriptive Notices of North American Coleoptera. I. Thos. L, Casey. 157 Submarine Valleys on the Pacitic Coast of the United States. Geo.
Davidson, A. M. Ph. D ^ 265
Additions to the Ornithology of Guadalupe Island. Walter E. Bryant.. 269
Standard Geodetic Data. Geo. Davidson, A. M. Ph. D 319
Early Spanish Voyages of Discovery on the Coast of California. Geo.
Davidson, A. M. Ph. D 325
ISSUED JHNUARY 12, 1BB7,
BULLETIN.
]Nlo. G.
(California Academy of Sciences.
THE WASHOE ROCKS.
BY GEO. F. BECKER. INTRODUCTORY.
It is well known to all who are interested in lithological geology that Messrs. Hague and Iddings^ have denied the validity of many of the results wdiich I reached concerning the rocks of the Washoe district." These geologists frankly confess that they commenced the study of the Washoe rocks with a preconceived theory which the\' desired to prove, and that they found my collections convenient for this pur- pose.^ To prove their hypothesis, however, it was essential to ignore or disprove a large part of m^^ conclusions as to the structure of the district; for though my results were not inconsistent with their main thesis, the region could not be
Note i.— Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey. No. 17.
Note '^. — Monograph III, U. S. Geol. Survey.
Note ^ — They say, page 10: "In studying the collections of lavas from the Pacific Coast volcanoes we were forcibly impressed with the insensible gra- dations in the micro-structure in the groundmass of rocks of the same min- eral composition from a purely glassy form to one wholly crystalline, and cor- responding exactly in structure to a fine-grained granite-porphyry. * * - In seeking a locality in the Great Basin which could afford the necessary conditions for carrying out such an investigation as we desired to make, showing the actual transition from the glassy to the granitic structure, it was readily seen that the Washoe district was the only place offering suffi- cient material for the work." 8— Bull. Gal. Acad. Sci. II. 6 Issued November 6, 1886
94 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
said to afford conclusive proof of it unless my conclusions as to structure and succession were lirst overtliro\yn. This demolition they have somewhat ruthlessly attempted. During the past season I have re-examined the Washoe district with their paper in hand, but without being able to detect any substantial error in my former results. I also gathered many new facts concerning the relations of the rocks and, much as I regret being drawn into a controversy, it seems needful to call attention to these as well as to arguments not presented, or imperfectly presented in my former report. I shall be as brief as possible and deal only with the, more essential points, being unwilling to con- tribute an unnecessary word to controversial literature.
SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
IBefore proceeding to points which are in dispute, I desire to state certain principles concerning which, so far as I know, Messrs. Hague and Iddings would wholly agree with me. Given the chemical composition of an eruptive magma; the mineralogical results are dependent solely on the physical conditions to which it is subjected. It is not a question therefore, whether if similar magmas are sub- jected at different times to similar temperatures and press- ures similar mineralogical and lithological results will ensue, but whether at different geological eras the physical conditions attending the cooling of eruptive masses have been substantially identical. That this has sometimes been the case will scarcely be denied. The problem with which geologists have to deal, however, is not precisely that just stated, for, since the earlier formations have been deeply eroded while the degradation of comparatively recent rocks is as a rule correspondingly small, upper portions of more recent eruptions have to be compared with lower portions of more ancient eruptions. The lithological problem is thereby greatly complicated.
The main purpose of lithology, to my thinking, is to trace
THE WASHOE ROCKS. 95
the physical conditions through which a mass of readily ascertainable chemical composition has passed. Hence, in the present state of ignorance concerning the effects of high temperatures and pressures, the most rational method is to study and record every peculiarity of every occurrence and every perceptible difference between rocks. When at some future time the causes of the observed effects are well known, it will be easy to ignore distinctions which are in- significant. If all traceable distinctions are not now pre- served, however, it will then be necessary to trace them out lest significant differences should be neglected. It has never appeared to me, for example, that a distinction between pre-Tertiary and Tertiary eruptions was a natural one, but I regard it as an artificial substitute which it would be unwise to abandon, at least until some available natural principle distinguishing little eroded from deeply eroded rocks is discovered and thoroughly established.
Eocks can, of course, never be classified with the sharp- ness of minerals. Kocks are essentially mixtures and therefore pass over into one another insensibly. The won- der is, that rocks not only conform in some degree to a system, but that certain lithological types exhibit such an extraordinary persistence, being met with at the most re- mote quarters in typical development. While the very nature of the case thus excludes a rigid classification of rocks, observation clearly indicates the possibility of reduc- ing them to a natural system.
THE PORPHYRITIC PYROXENE EOCKS.
The Issue. — Those who are familiar with the points at issue between Messrs. Hague and Iddings and myself, will readily see that the main subject of controversy is the pyrox- enic rocks. ^ In my memoir on the Comstock, I claimed
Note '. — Mr. VV. Cross' paper on hypersthene andesites was published after my lithological discussions of the Washoe rocks was ready for the press, and too late for a revision. The Washoe pyroxenic rocks contain much hyper- sthene, although the quantity of augite usually exceeds that of hypersthene.
96 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
that there were two separate eruptions of porphyritic, pyroxenic, plagioclase rocks, closely allied, indeed, but presenting peculiarities in structure and occurrence which made it necessary, according to the accepted criteria of the time, to separate them into diabase and andesite.^ Messrs. Hague and Iddings consider both of these masses literally or substantially as a single Tertiary eruption.
During the past season I have found additional reasons for maintaining the existence of diabase, and also for divid- ing the pyroxene andesite into two distinct outflows separa- ted by a long interval of time.
Diabase at Steamboat. — At Steamboat Springs, at the west- ern foot of the Virginia range, and about six miles from Virginia City, occurs an extensive series of sedimentary beds. They are for the most part in a condition of great alteration, much plicated, on the average nearly vertical, the strike following the general direction of the Sierra. Andesites and basalts have broken through them and over- lie them. No trace of a fossil could be detected in these rocks. They are certainly pre-Tertiary, however, for the Miocene to the north and the Pliocene to the south (at Car- son) are very differently characterized. This series appears to be at least as old as the beds determined as Jura-Trias by the geologists of the 40th parallel. These beds contain pebbles of the exact physical and mineralogical character of the most typical portion of the east wall of the Comstock lode, which I determined as porphyritic diabase.*^ It is
Note '". — In my memoir on the Comstock lode, it is maintained that the rocks of the district, in the order of their succession, are as follows: Granite, metamorphics, granular diorites, porphyritic diorites, quartz-porphyry, j)or- phyritic diabase, later diabase (black dike), earlier hornblende andesite, augite andesite, later hornblende andesite, basalt. It will be shown in this paper that the augite andesite would be more properly entitled xDyroxene andesite, and that it is divisible into two eruptions, bt^tween which, how- ever, no other lava is known to have been ejected.
Note ^. — As is almost invariably the case at Virginia, the pyroxenes are represented only by pseudomorphs, but these are unmistakable.
THE WASHOE ROCKS. 97
thus absolutely certain that there is somewhere in the neigh- borhood of Mount Davidson real pre-Tortiary diabase, not distinguishable either by definable characteristics or by those more subtle properties known as habitus from Com- stock diabase. The locality in Avhich these pebbles occur now receives the drainage from Mt. Davidson. According to my investigation of the faulting action on the Comstock, this locality formerly received the drainage from the diabase area at Virginia. Be this mentioned, however, only as evidence that the two localities are substantially in the same district. It would be impossible and is unnecessary to show that these pebbles are from the particular mass which forms the east wall of the lode. This occurrence throws the bur- den of iDroof on to anyone who chooses to deny the pre- Tertiary age of a rock which, in its characteristic exposures, has a distinctly different character from representative augite andesites.
The lithological distinctions between the porphyritic dia- base, and the augite andesite of Washoe are somewhat re- fined, and in many cases it may be impossible from the mere study of specimens to discriminate them.
This could hardly be otherwise, for it is difficult to con- ceive that a porphyritic diabase could, so differ from a por- phyritic pyroxene andesite, that every hand specimen, or every slide could be unhesitatingly referred to its proper category. In their typical developments, however, they are distinguishable without difficulty. It may be that this is only because in the course of geological periods the older rock has been eroded to a depth at which the glassy magma had a better opportunity to crystallize and at which fluid inclusions were more readily formed, while the infiltration of waters for ages has produced, even in the freshest spec- imens, effects familiar to the observers of the older rocks; or the distinctions between the older and younger rock may be due to some other cause not yet elucidated. However this may be, the east wall of the Comstock, at the higher
98 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
levels, and particularly on the 500-foot level, is entirely similar to diabases of well ascertained age, while the augite andesite found over a thousand feet lower is equally typical augite andesite. Of these two types, one answers perfectly to the pebbles in the pre-Tertiary rocks at Steam- boat, while the other does not. There are thus good litho- logical arguments, as such arguments go, for the assertion that the east wall of the Comstock is diabase, though these do not by any means complete the chain of evidence ad- ducible.
Pyroxene Andesite at Steamhoat. — There are at. Steamboat Springs extensive masses of pyroxene andesite, indistin- guishable from a portion of the indubitable Washoe ande- sites. This rock also cuts ordinary hornblende andesite in dikes at the springs, and furthermore, passes by insen- sible gradations and in good exposures into an extremely micaceous "trachytic" andesite in all respects similar to the later hornblende andesite of the Comstock region. The hypersthene seems to be gradually suppressed and replaced by mica, the augite at the same time yield- ing to hornblende. So gradual is the transition, that in some croppings of the intermediate rocks one may search for half an hour before detecting a flake of mica, and from this rock with a vanishing trace of mica to one which looks as if it contained 30 or 40 per cent, of biotite, every degree of admixture can be found. In large adjoin- ing areas on the other hand the pyroxene andesite appears to be entirely free from mica. The exposures are so good and so extensive that there can be no mistake about these facts. At Steamboat Springs then, only six miles from the Comstock and on the same mountain range, there is cer- tainly a pre-Tertiary porphyritic pyroxene rock in pebbles and a very recent porphyritic pyroxene lava in large masses. The latter is certainly more recent than the ordinary dense hornblende andesite.
Micaceous Pyroxene Andesites at JVasJwe. — Having studied
THE WASHOE ROCKS. 99
these relations at the Springs I made an examination at AYashoe for purposes of comparison. On Mt. Kate, and the range of hills to the southeast of it, I detected the same transition rocks, in small quantities but distinctly developed. This range is mostly composed of a very coarse pyroxene andesite. Its structural relations had always puzzled me, for while the rock of which it is com- posed presents, as a whole, apparently insignificant litho- logical differences from the ordinary pyroxene andesite of the Comstock area, there seemed plain evidence that the main mass had been much eroded, while this range seemed to have suffered but little. It now appears to be the first portion of the series of eruptions of w^hich the later horn- blende andesite was the last, and I believe it to have been much later than the main, comparatively level pyroxene andesite area, though no eruptive rock, intermediate in age^ has been detected. I may also mention that I have traced the same passage from pyroxenic to micaceous andesite at Mt. Shasta and at Clear Lake.
Messrs. Hague and Iddings recognize that my diabase preceded the older hornblende andesite. Tbey also recog- nize that the later hornblende andesite was ejected long^ after the earlier hornblende andesite. The pyroxene ande- site of the Mount Kate range, which is connected with the later hornblende andesite by transitions, must, therefore,, to accord with their admissions, be younger than the rock w^hich I called diabase. The discovery of these transitions, thus leads inevitably to the conclusion that the pyroxenic porphyries of Washoe are not substantially one eruption.
Earlier Hornblende Andesite. — The relative age of the older hornblende ^ andesite ^of AVashoe seems to me very clear. It overlies both the diabase and the diorite in thin sheets, and Messrs. Hague and Iddings admit that it is younger than these rocks. They assert, however, that it is also younger than the mass of rock laid down on my maps as augite andesite. They are consequently compelled to
100 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
argue that in the region penetrated by the Forman shaft, a thickness of over 1,300 feet of hornblende andesite has been injected beneath an earlier mass of pyroxene andesite. This I regard as a mechanical impossibility.
Granting, for the sake of argument, the soundness of the theory of laccolitic eruptions, these can occur only where the overlying rock is coherent and tough. If a sheet of wet paper is laid on a slab of glass or marble, it is not difficult to inject beneath it a mass of water, which will simulate a laccolite. But a single pin-prick in the dome allows the water to escape and the paper to flatten. Eruptive rocks after cooling are always cracked, and they are also brittle. Laccolites cannot therefore be formed in eruptive rocks. The only remaining supposition is, that the pyrox- ene andesite floated upon the hornblende andesite. If solid pyroxene andesite will float upon melted hornblende ande- site at all, which seems improbable, the pyroxene andesite would certainly not float high out of the melted mass, but would be almost submerged. The hyjDothesis of flotation, therefore, implies that the whole region was flooded with hornblende andesite to the level of the top of Mount Kate, a supposition which is entirely at variance with all appear- ances. I believe also that a careful inspection of the prom- ontory of augite andesite, in which the Forman shaft is sit- uated, on my map, including an examination of the topog- raphy, or a very hasty glance at the model prepared from the map, will lead most geologists to regard the supposition that the hornblende andesite has been injected beneath the pyroxene andesite, as highly improbable.
Conclusions as to Pyroxenic Rocks. — I re-assert, there- fore, that there was an eruption of porphyritic pyroxene rock (diabase) prior to the hornblende andesite erup- tion, and that pyroxene andesites also followed the horn- blende andesite. These pyroxene andesites appear divisi- ble into two outflows, one of which certainly immedi- ately preceded the later hornblende andesite, while there
THE WASHOE ROCKS. 101
seems sufficient evidence that the other eruption of pyrox- ene andesite was far earlier and comparatively near to the date of the hornblende andesite. It is worth noting that most of the glassy pyroxene andesite, and perhaps all of it, belongs to the eruption immediately preceding the later hornblende andesite.
DIORITE.
Not characteristically pyroxenic. — Messrs. Hague and Iddings maintain that the two walls of the Comstock are the same rock and both originally in the main py- roxenic. That in some cases the granular diorite of my report contains fresh brown hornblende, far exceeding the accompanying augite in quantity, they do not deny, but they assert their belief that in the main mass of the granular rock, containing green fibrous hornblende in irregular patches, this mineral is uralitic. This is a case in which full direct evidence is scarcely available, there being com- monly no means of deciding whether the bisilicate in a particular slide is a product of the degeneration of pyroxene or of hornblende. During my last visit I collected a series of specimens with a view to testing this question on the fine exposures of the face of Mount Davidson.
In a great portion of this rock the grains are somewhat indistinct from an admixture of the minerals. In other portions equally granular, the grains are sharp and appar- ently free of impurities. Specimens of the latter class were selected and slides from them show that they contain unquestionable crystals of hornblende with characteristic outlines.
Porphyritic cliorife. — Benewed observations were also made on the porphyritic patches of the mass. On the bare faulted surfaces of the diorite of Mount Davidson, though consider- ably more than 90 per cent, of the rock is granitoid in struc- ture, there are patches of porphyritic rock surrounded by granular material, and patches of granular matter sur-
102 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
rounded by porjjhyritic rock. Neither one nor the other form inchisions. They resemble the dark spots so constantly found in granite and show in innumerable instances, a tran- sition from one structure to the other. In some cases this transition is rapid though unmistakable, in others it is very gradual, so that it would be impossible to say within some inches where the mass should be called granular, and where porphyritic. In a great proportion of cases, the por- phyritic portions contain hornblende recognizable with the naked eye. Under the microscope, hornblende is seen to be abundant, and augite almost entirely wanting. Now, I know of no reason to suppose that the change from a porphyry Avith a granular ground mass to a thoroughly granular struc- ture is regularly accompanied by a change of the bisilicate from hornblende to augite; indeed, there is ample direct evidence that this is not necessarily the case. The infer- ence then is strong that where these patches occur, and I know of no part of the mountain which is free from them, the mass is essentiall}^ and originally hornblendic.
Crystallization of diorite does not vary loitli depth. — But even if it could be shown that the granular west wall of the Com- stock were of the same mineralogical composition as the east wall, as I believe impossible, it would be a necessary inference from the whole nature of the occurrence that the two rocks Avhich I call granular diorite and porphyritic dia- base are diiFerent eruptions which have cooled under wholly different conditions. The diorite is now exposed on the 3,000 foot level of the Chollar mine. It is at this point ab- solutely identical in mineralogical and physical character with the rock on the surface. This statement is not founded on general impressions. I gathered every variety of the diorite which was to be found on the 3,000 level, and took the specimens with me to the flume above the crop- pings. I found no difficalty in matching each of them per- fectly as to structure and coarseness. The only trace of difference was in the color, which was of course a bluish
THE WASHOE ROCKS. 103
gray in the specimens from the mine and a yellowish tint where the rock was exposed to the air. It is manifest and indisputable that the west wall of the 3,000 foot level cooled under a pressure greater than the rock of the west wall of the croppings, tlie difference amounting to that of a vertical column of 3,000 feet of west country rock. The specific gravity of this rock is about 2.80. It is consequently certain that a pressure of above 3,600 pounds per square inch, or about 256 kilos per square cm. has produced no perceptible difference in the mineralogical or physical character of the west country rock.
Nor that of diabase. — The diabase of the 3,000-foot level is porphyritic and rather finer grained than it usually is on theSutro Tunnel or any higher level. An additional pres- sure, nearly as great as in the case of the diorite, has equally failed to produce a coarser or less porphyritic character in the diabase, or, in short, to induce any approximation be- tween the r^cks. These rocks are so distinct at the 3,000- foot level that no common miner fails to see the difference between them, or to recognize the character of each and the distinction between them as the same which prevailed at higher levels. In short, there is at the lode a very sharp break in the general character of the rock.
In the effort not to burden my memoir wdth wearisome details, I there perhaps insufiiciently described the distri- bution of the granitoid diabases, though I distinctly as- serted that the commonest variety of the east country diabase is a fine-grained blackish-green rock. The granitoid variety is, in fact, decidedly rare, though circumstances led me to pay particular attention to its occurrences. The granitoid form is not only most likely to be confounded macroscop- ically w4th diorite, but is also least subject to decomposi- tion and best fitted for microscopic study. It forms a very small portion of the mass.
The two rocks cannot he one eruption. — According to my
104 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
calculations, the faulting on the Comstock amounts, at this locality, to about two thousand feet vertical dislocation. If this is correct, and if the two walls are portions of the same eruption, the fine-grained diabase of the 3,000-foot level cooled under a pressure of at least one thousand feet greater than the coarse granitoid rock which forms the west wall at the croppings. It is also to be observed, that since these rocks are separated only by the width of the fissure, and must have been in contact before the fissure formed, it is impossible to suppose those portions of the rocks which were originally on one level subject to different physical conditions in cooling, if they originally formed parts of one eruption. It is of course open to all to doubt the correct- ness of my theory of the faulting on the Comstock. If I am wrong, the fault may have been greater, but I think few geologists who have studied the district would be willing to admit a fault of above three thousand feet. If the vertical displacement is supposed three thousand feet, the fine-grained diabase of the 3,000-foot level must have cooled under a pressure not less than that of the granitoid diorite west of the croppings, if the two ro*cks formed portions of the same eruption. On the other hand, this would involve as a consequence the assumption of an immense erosion since the fault took place, an hypothesis at variance with many observed relations. One of these is on Messrs. Hague and Iddings' hypothesis, the survival of glassy portions of the great eruption of porphyritic pyroxene rock. There being no limit to suppositions, however, any amount of faulting may be supposed. It then appears that if the texture of these rocks is a function of the depths at which they cooled, the coarseness and granula- tion increasing with the depth, though slowly, the amount of faulting which will account for the character actually observed must exceed six thousand feet by a distance which is indefinite but certainly enormous. This no one will maintain for a moment.
THE WASHOE ROCKS. 105
PEOGRESSIVE CRYSTALLIZATION.
Ohservafioiis on the surface. — Messrs. Hague and Iddings, however, claim to observe in my slides a progressive in- crease in the coarseness of the grain of the rocks from the contact between the later hornblende andesite with the augite andesite to the lode itself. This is a distance of about ten thousand feet. They appear to me to have been misled, and for this opinion there are various grounds. Messrs. Hague and Iddings admit that the later hornblende ande- site is much later than the pyroxene andesite. The latter has, consequently, been subject to very considerable ero- sion. If, therefore, there is a progressive tendency in the physical character of this rock on the Sutro Tunnel level, such a tendency should also be sensible on the present sur- face of this rock, lying as it must considerably below the original surface, Indeed, as I shall presently show, it should afford a better opportunity for establishing their theory. I