Metachroma interruptum (Say 1824)

Metachroma interruptum (Say)

Colaspis interruptus Say, 1823, p. 448.

Metachroma interruptum Crotch, 1873, p. 42.—Horn, 1892, pp 211,216.

DESCRIPTION.—Between 4.4 and 6.0 mm in length, oblong oval, shining, prothorax not very convex and rather finely punctate on sides with a median impunctate area, usually female with darker markings than male, with a large piceous spot on each side of pronotum which in male is either lacking or reduced, on elytra in female a vitta from humerus to middle, also a short vitta below the middle, in male elytra often without markings, suture and margin more or less dark in female; striate punctures regular, fading at apex.

Head with interocular space approximately half width of head, coarsely and densely punctate, with clypeus even more coarsely and densely punctate, anterior margin of clypeus broad and nearly straight over labrum, no transverse sulcus separating front from clypeus, a small depression in middle of front; yellow-brown with piceous jaws. Antennae extending below humeri, in darker specimens yellow-brown with dark apical joints. Prothorax not twice as broad as long, not very convex, with well-rounded sides and small tooth at each angle, rather finely punctate on the sides, usually with a median impunctate area. In female a large brown spot on either side, sometimes entire surface dark; in male only faint brownish traces of this darker area. Scutellum varying from pale to piceous. Elytra three times as long as prothorax, with regular, close-set, striate punctures somewhat impressed, so intervals in basal half appear slightly costate, on sides punctures often dense and confused, usually a row along side extending up on inner side of humerus, fading at apex; surface yellow-brown, in male, often without any dark markings, in female, with deep reddish brown or piceous vittate markings or spots, sometimes all but apex and sides dark, suture and margin always dark. Body beneath varying from pale in male to piceous in dark females; femora with minute tooth, claws with long tooth. Length, 4.4–6.0 mm; width, 2.2–3.2 mm.

TYPE.—Whereabouts unknown. Most of Say’s collection is lost.

TYPE-LOCALITY.—“Inhabits Arkansa, near the Rocky Mts.”

OTHER LOCALITIES. Georgia: Thomasville, P. W. Fattig. Florida: Suwanee Springs, R. H. Beamer. Texas: Presidio, Peale, L. W. Hepner. Louisiana: Shreveport, on pecan, B. G. Sitton. Illinois: E. Dubuque, M. W. Sanderson. Indiana: Tippicanoe County, on poplar, N. M. Downie. Kansas: Cheyenne County, at 3,300 feet, F. X. Williams; Medora, D. R. Lindsay, W. Benedict. Wyoming: 40 miles north of Lusk.