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Systena basalis Jaquel.

Fig.

Systena basalia Jaquel., Historia de la[[strikethrough]]s [[strikethrough]] Isla de Cuba, vol.7,p.129,1856.

In the West Indies occurs a species, S. basalis Jaquel., closely related to S. elongata, but differing from it mainly in having the sexes differently marked. The proportions, color, punctation and aedeagus are very similar to S. elongata, and the male beetle is practically indistinguishable. The female, however, instead of having an entire pale elytral vitta has only a small basal pale spot, or at most a basal and spical pale spot.

[[underlined]] Systena bohemani [[underlined]]Jac.

[[underlined]] Systena bohemani [[underlined]] Jacoby, Biol.Central.Am., vol.6,p.334,1884.
[[underlined]]Systena thoracica [[underlined]] Jacoby, Biol.Central.Am., vol.6,p.334,1884.

In Mexico and Central America occurs a third species, (the male described by Jacoby as [[underlined]] S. bohemani [[underlined]], the female as [[underlined]] S. thoracica) [[underlined]], also closely related to [[underlined]] S. elongata [[underlined]] and [[underlined]] basalis [[underlined]], and like [[underlined]] basalis [[underlined]], showing sexual differences in coloration. The writer in a previous publication(5) synonymized [[underlined]]S. thoracica [[underlined]]

Blake, Bull.Brook.Ent.Soc.,vol.26,p.80,1831.

with [[underlined]] S. basalis [[underlined]], but study of a larger series of specimens and comparison of the aedeagi have convinced me that thisis a distinct although very closely related species. It differs from [[underlined]] basalis [[underlined]] in that the aedeagus has a slightly more pronounced lobing at the tip, as can be seen from the illustration, and also that the sexual difference[[strikethrough]]s[[/strikethrough]] in coloration is not exactly the same as in [[underlined]] basalis [[underlined]]. In [[underlined]] basalis [[underlined]] the elytral vitta is entire in the male but seen only as a basal and sometimes apical spot in the female. The coloring of both sexes is black or aeneous black. In bohemani, the entire elytral vitta may be present in the female, or as a pot at the base or entirely lacking. In the male, the vitta may be entire or represented only as a basal spot. But the male is pale reddish brown whereas the female is black. In the limited number of specimens at hand it would appear that the entirely elytral