SEMIOTUS. 291 



l/ 6. SemiotUS SUperbllS. (Tab. XIII. figg. 4, 5, $ ; 5 a, fifth ventral segment, $ .} 



Semiotus superbus, Kirsch, Berl. ent. Zeitschr. 1866, p. 181 1 j Cand. Revis. Elat. p. 179 \ 



Hah. Costa Kica (coW. Janson, Van Patten), Eio Sucio, Volcan de Irazu (Bogers) ; 

 Panama, Volcan de Chiriqui 3000 feet {Champion). — Colombia, Bogota 1 2 ; Ecuador 2 . 



Not uncommon in Costa Rica and the State of Panama. Varies greatly in size, and 

 also in colour, the two black vittee on the thorax being frequently confluent, or narrow, so 

 that the rufous intervening space is much broader than the vittee. The females have 

 two large, oval, piliferous fovese on the fifth ventral segment beyond the middle ; the 

 apex of this segment is subtruncate in both sexes. Amongst the thirty-one Central- 

 American specimens examined, nine are males. We figure two female specimens — ■ 

 one (fig. 4), a dark variety from the Volcan de Irazu ; the other (fig. 5), the form 

 described by Kirsch, from Rio Sucio. 



7. SemiotUS chontalenus. (Tab. XIII. figg. 3 ; 3 a, fifth ventral segment, $ .) 

 Semiotus chontalenus, Cand. Revis. Elat. p. 177 l . 



Eab. Nicakagua (Salle), Chontales (Belt, E. M. Janson x ) ; Costa Rica (coll. Janson) ; 

 Panama, Bugaba, Volcan de Chiriqui, Caldera (Champion). 



Not uncommon in Chiriqui. Amongst the twenty-seven specimens examined, six are 

 males. The fifth ventral segment in the female has two very large, deep, oval, piliferous 

 fovese, extending from about the basal third to the apex, these becoming confluent 

 behind and merely separated anteriorly by a sharp carina ; the apex of this segment is 

 rounded in both sexes. S. chontalenus is very closely allied to S. caracasanus, Cand., 

 from which it differs in having the punctures of the elytral striae almost obliterated, 

 and the apical three or four joints of the antennae yellow. In some examples the 

 suture is black to the base; and in one from the Volcan de Chiriqui the apical joint 

 only of the antennas is lighter in colour. A typical specimen from Chontales is 

 figured. 



8. SemiotUS ligneus. (Tab. XII. figg. 24 ; 24 a, fifth ventral segment, $ .) 



r Elater ligneus, Linn. Syst. Nat. 12th edit. i. 2, p. 652 x ; Oliv. Ent. ii. no. 31, p. 17, t. 2. fig. 15 2 . 



Semiotus ligneus, Cand. Monogr. Elat. i. p. 302 * 3 ; Kevis. Elat. p. 185 4 . 

 Elater conicus, Voet, Cat. Syst. Col. i. p. 83, t. 42. fig. 9 5 . 

 Elater xylinus, Perty, Del. anim. art. Bras. p. 22, t. 5. fig. 10 6 . 



Eab. Mexico, Cosamaloapan in Vera Cruz (Salle) ; Nicakagua, Chontales (Belt, 

 E. M. Janson); Panama, Bugaba (Champion), Chiriqui (Trbtsch). — South Ameeica 3 ; 

 Colombia ; Ecuador ; Guiana, Surinam 1 2 , Cayenne 2 ; Amazons 4 ; Beazil 2 4 6 ; Peru ; 

 Antilles, Grenada. 



* Candeze also quotes Drury, Illustr. exot. Ins. iii. t. 47. fig. 4 (Elater serraticomis) ; but Drury's figure is 

 obviously intended for 8. distinctus, Herbst. 



2P2 



