TAPHRODERES. 5 
Antenne broad, all the joints except the first and last transverse, the ninth slightly 
longer but scarcely broader than the eighth. Thorax very elongate, canaliculate in 
front, and with a finer short channel at the base. Elytra with three short yellow 
marks, linearly arranged near the suture, each one extending in a vague manner 
outwards; the tip broadly reddish yellow. Apical ventral segments not punctate. 
Abdominal sulcus broad and deep, quite open behind, the distinct porous prominences 
being widely separated. Metasternal groove broad, but becoming obsolete in front, so 
that it does not attain the scarcely perceptible metasternal fossa; the crest in front of 
this latter very definite, but not strongly prominent in consequence of the slight 
depression of the fossa behind it. Prosternum sulcate; the sulcus not extending to 
the tip; poststernum foveolate. Legs stout, very much compressed. 
Twelve specimens. 
6. Taphroderes ventralis, sp.n. (Tab. I. fig. 38, under surface.) 
Niger, politus, hine inde vage rufescens ; elytris guttis sex flavescentibus parum distincte ornatis ; abdominis 
sulco posterius obsoleto ; metasterno fossa, post cristam, profunda. 
Long. 10-16 millim. 
fab. Panama, Bugaba, Volcan de Chiriqui (Champion). 
This insect is extremely similar to 7. bel¢ianus on the upper surface, but is a little 
more slender ; the antenne are not so thick near the base; the thorax is polished in 
front, and has no trace of the obsolete lateral margin that is always present to some 
extent in 7’. beltianus; and the yellow marks on the elytra are less elongate. The 
under surface is different in the two species, the structure of the abdomen in T. ventralis 
being very curious: the posterior or vertical face of the elongate part is quite perpen- 
dicular and is unusually large, and there is a remarkable definite division between the 
horizontal and the perpendicular portions; the abdominal sulcus is very deep and 
broad in front, but becomes obsolete behind, and there are no porous spaces, but in 
their place are some small projections—not amounting to tubercles—on the prominent 
edge between the horizontal and perpendicular parts of the segment. The metasternal 
groove is definite and ends in front in the deep sharply defined transverse depression 
behind the metasternal crest. ‘The poststernum is broadly sulcate; the prosternum 
vaguely sulcate in front, more deeply so behind. 
Three specimens. 
§ 3. Metasternum not sulcate ; metasternal crest obsolete. 
7. Taphroderes oscillator, sp.n. (Tab. I. fig. 4, apices of the elytra of @.) 
Angustus, niger, hinc inde piceo-rufescens ; elytris guttis vagis quatuor flavis, angulis posterioribus externis 
haud deflexis, prolongatis. 
Long. 8 millim. 
Mas. Antennis articulis 3°-6™ barbatis, quarto sextoque quam contiguis paulo latioribus. 
