612 PHTTOPHAGA. 



The specimens from Guatemala are larger than those from British Honduras, and 

 one of them has the elytra stained with purplish reflections. 



HECAT.EUS. 



Oblong ovate ; antennae short, the second and third joints small, the following joints subtriangular and gradually 

 widened; thorax subquadrate, the angles slightly prominent, the surface without depressions; elytra 

 irregularly punctured, their epipleuree very broad at the base and continued below the middle ; tibiae 

 unarmed ; the first joint of the posterior tarsi nearly as long as the following three joints together ; claws 

 appendiculate ; the anterior coxal cavities open. 



The short antennae with sub triangularly widened joints in connection with the 

 unarmed tibiae do not permit the placing of the small insect for which I propose the 

 present genus in any other yet described. The single species I include in it is from 

 the State of Panama. 



l. Hecataeus nigricollis. (Tab. XXXIII. fig. 23.) 



Black ; head impunctate ; thorax scarcely visibly punctured ; elytra fulvous, a spot surrounding the scutellum 

 and the posterior half black. 



Var. Entirely black. 



Length 1| line. 



Head impunctate ; the frontal tubercles distinct, trigonate ; the clypeus with a strongly raised central ridge ; 

 antennae less than half the length of the body, black, pubescent ; thorax about one half broader than long, 

 deflexed near the anterior angles, the latter slightly thickened, the lateral and the posterior margins 

 moderately rounded, the surface with a few exceedingly fine punctures at the sides ; scutellum black, its 

 apex rounded ; elytra a little more strongly punctured than the thorax, the anterior portion to below the 

 middle fulvous, a small spot surrounding the scutellum and the rest of the surface black ; underside and 

 the legs black. 



Hdb. Panama, Bugaba, Volcan de Chiriqui [Champion). 

 The variety is of an entirely black colour. 



ELYCES. 



Oblong ; clypeus not separated from the face ; antennae slender, much longer than the body, the third joint 

 longer than the second but much shorter than the fourth ; thorax transverse, the angles not produced ; 

 elytra irregularly punctured, their epipleuree continued to the apex ; tibiae simple, unarmed ; the first joint 

 of the posterior tarsi as long as the following three joints together ; claws appendiculate ; anterior coxal 

 cavities open. 



The very long and slender antennae, the head with the lower part formed of a single 

 piece, the transverse thorax, and the unarmed tibiae separate Elyces from any of the 

 numerous genera of Galerucinae. This genus is perhaps best placed near Chthoneis 

 and Scelida, in Chapuis's twelfth group. 



Four species from Central America are here referred to it. 



