Vol. XXlii] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 23 



tinctly passing apex of abdomen, corium reaching base of last connexi- 

 val segment. Abdomen but little broader than the closed hemelytra, 

 which cover the greatest part of the connexivum. Puncturation as in 

 N. depressus. Length, $ 13 mm. 



Tasmania. 



Qosely allied to N. depressus Dall., but the connexivum and 

 lateral border of the venter are entirely unspotted, the third 

 antennal joint and hemelytra are longer, and the abdomen is 

 more narrowed posteriorly. In depressus the third antennal 

 joint is distinctly shorter than the second, the hemelytra do not 

 pass the apex of the abdomen, the corium barely passes the 

 middle of the penultimate connexival segment, and the abdo- 

 men is broader behind the middle, leaving the greatest part of 

 the connexivum exposed. 



Alcaeus hermannsburgi Dist. 



On this species Distant founded the genus Muritha, which is 

 a synonym of Alcaeus Dall. Distant says that it differs from 

 Alcaeus in having the second antennal joint "not about half 

 the length of the first, but nearly twice as long." This is cor- 

 rect, but the length of the second joint in A. hermannsburgi is 

 due to the fact that the second and third joints are fused into 

 one long joint, being separated only by a constriction, not by a 

 real articulation. In consequence of this the third joint, as de- 

 scribed by Distant, corresponds to the fourth joint in the other 

 species. The second joint is, as Distant correctly says, "flatten- 

 ed and roundly ampliate at base ;" this flattened basal part of 

 the joint corresponds to the whole second joint in the other de- 

 scribed species, this joint being compressed in all species, as 

 correctly stated by Dallas. The fourth (apical) joint (corre- 

 sponding to the fifth in the typical species), which was lacking 

 in Distant's type, is only half the length of the preceding joint, 

 black with the base narrowly yellow. There are several species 

 of this Australian genus, only four of which have been de- 

 scribed ; they are extremely similar in color, much confused in 

 the collections and sorely in need of a revision, impossible to 

 undertake without examination of the types of the described 

 species. They are separable principally by the structure of the 



