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SECOhmARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS I N ADULT ALPIIZTOPIIAGUS BZFASCZATUS SAY

(COLEOPTERA : TENEBRIONIDAE)

By GORDON SIJRTEES (AginJlural Reaemch Council, Peal InjealdiOn Loboralory. Slough, Bucks.)

THE adult malea of Alphalophagus bifasciatus Say may be distinguished by the peculiar external morphology of the head. In the female, the labrum is sub-rectangular and the fronto-clypeal region is rounded with fused, indistinct sutures. The interocular region is rounded anteriorly and is without any irregularities. Viewed laterally the

FIO. l.-AZpAilophagus bifQeciolw Say: dorsal and lateral viewa of adult head; (a) female, ( b ) male.

epicranium and fronto-clypeus appear as smooth rounded surfaces with the lateral margins of the latter region thickened, posteriorly obscuring 2-3 eye facets (fig. la).

When the male head is viewed dorsally, the labrum is seen to have an excavated anterior margin. The fronto-clypeus is similarly excavated and has thickened anterior angles. Arising a t a point approximate to the fronto-clypeal sutures in the female are two wings. The anterior part of the epicranium is deeply concave and contains two elotigate, black, shining ridges running anterio-posteriorly in the inter-ocular region. Viewed laterally the- fronto-clypeal region is obscured by the wings and the margins are more thickened than in the female (fig. lb).

In both sexes the antennae arise from beneath the lateral extensions of the fronto- clypeus immediately anterior to the eyes.

PROC. R. ENT. SOC. LOSD. (B) 80. PT. 7-8. (AUGUST 1961).