620 RHYNCHOPHORA. 
the disc, whitish or yellowish-white; the elytra also set with short, decumbent, scattered sete. Head 
and rostrum densely, rugulosely punctate, the latter becoming much smoother and sparsely punctate at 
the tip in the ¢, and smoother from the middle in the 2 ; antenne inserted at about one-third from the 
apex of the rostrum, joint 2 of the funiculus a little shorter than 1. Prothorax transverse, arcuately 
dilated at the sides, narrowed and feebly constricted in front, deeply bisinuate at the base; densely, 
rugulosely punctate. Elytra comparatively short, at the base a little wider than the base of the prothorax, 
somewhat rounded at the sides, broadly produced at the apex, flattened on the disc anteriorly ; with rows 
of somewhat distantly-placed punctures, the interstices alutaceous and minutely granulate, uneven towards 
the sides, flat along the suture. Beneath sparsely punctate. Femora sharply unidentate. 
Length 4-53, breadth 2-3 millim. (¢ 2.) 
Hab. Mexico (Mus. Brit.), Toxpam in Vera Cruz (Sa//é). 
Eight specimens. 
APTEROMECHUS. 
Apteromechus, Faust, Stett. ent. Zeit. 1896, pp. 54, 82. 
Apteromechus, based on a single species (A. suffrago, Faust) from Venezuela, is well 
represented in Central America, and extends just over the Mexico border into Texas *. 
Its chief characters are :— 
Rostrum short, curved or nearly straight, in some species very rugose in the g ; eyes (except in A. scabrosus) 
rather narrowly separated and in great part exposed ; the antennal club oblong-ovate or ovate ; prothorax 
rounded at the sides, deeply bisinuate at the base, the median lobe partly filling the scutellar cavity, the 
scutellum itself not visible, the surface coarsely, confluently punctate, the ocular lobes (except in 
A. scabrosus) feebly developed ; elytra with the tenth row of punctures abbreviated, the alternate inter- 
stices usually more or less raised; mesosternum prominent, feebly emarginate in front; metasternum 
rather long, the episterna broad; ventral segments 2-4 subequal in length, 2 usually a little longer 
than 3; femora unidentate, the anterior pair sometimes unarmed ; tibize rounded at the base externally ; 
tarsi similarly formed in the two sexes or with the anterior pair clothed with projecting hairs in the 3 
(A. scabrosus), the claws simple. 
These insects have the general facies of Staseas, but differ from that genus in the 
simple tarsal claws, &c. ‘They all have the vestiture much sparser on the prothorax 
than on the elytra. The various species appear to be rare, no fewer than nine out 
of the seventeen here described being represented by single examples; the Venezuelan 
type, too, is unique. 
a. Kyes distant, almost covered by the prominent ocular lobes of the prothorax ; 
elytra with the third elytral interstice swollen near the base; anterior tarsi 
of the g hairy: body elongate-ovate . re - . . Species 1. 
6. Eyes more approximate and partly exposed ; elytra with, at most, the alternate 
interstices raised ; anterior tarsi similarly formed in the two sexes: body 
oblong-ovate. 
a'. Legs moderately long ; rostrum nearly as long as the prothorax, curved ; 
elytra subfasciate and setose . . . . 1. 1 ww ww we es Species 2. 
_* Cryptorhynchus ferratus, Say, belongs to this genus: Mr. Wickham has sent me a specimen of it from 
Brownsville, Texas, from just beyond our northern limits. 
