212 REVISION OF THE AUSTRALIAN CURCULIONID^E, 



Melanterius bidentatus, n.sp. 



Broad, ovate, shining, somewhat depressed. Black ; elytra 

 feebly tinged with red, claw-joint and antennae dull red. Pro- 

 thorax with a scarcely traceable hair in each discal puncture, 

 but more distinct towards sides; legs with short, white, moder- 

 ately distinct hair, densest at base of anterior femora. 



Head densely and minutely punctate; eyes large, semicircular, 

 rather coarsely faceted, moderately sepai'ated; ocular fovea small, 

 situate between bases of eyes. Rosti'um long, slightly cui'ved, 

 moderately stout (for the genus); densely punctate throughout, 

 punctures somewhat oblong; not carinate; parallel-sided except 

 between antennae and apex, where it is slightly incurved. 

 Antennae moderately stout ; scape perfectly straight, inserted 

 about two-fifths from apex of rostrum which it slightly passes; 

 funicle with joints Ist-Gth cylindrical, 7th transverse, 1st and 2nd 

 elongate, 3rd slightly shorter; club top-shaped, longer than two 

 preceding joints. Prothorax slightly transverse, sides and 

 posterior angles rounded, base bisinuate; ocular lobes obtuse, 

 densely and regularly punctate, apex with smaller ])unctures than 

 elsewhere; a feeble shining median line not continued to base or 

 apex. Scutellum circular, punctate. Elytra cordate, wider than 

 prothorax and more than twice its length; shoulders oblique; 

 sides slightly obliquely rounded; each with nine rows of large, 

 elliptic, shelving punctures, which near base are encroached upon 

 by obtuse granules; interstices narrow, raised, very slightly waved 

 and with minute punctures; suture near base slightly flattened, 

 elsewhere raised. Pectoral canal wide, shallow; anterior coxa? 

 hollowed out but not distinctly separated. Mesosternal plate 

 depressed, slightly concave, obsoletely punctate, apex wide, feebl}^ 

 emarginate, base narrow, almost truncate, sides oblique. Meta- 

 sternum feebly depressed in middle, where punctures are shallow 

 and irregular, sides with larger, denser and more regular punc- 

 tures ; episterna each with a continuous i-ow of rather deep 

 punctures. Abdomen with basal segment as long as two following 

 combined, with moderately dense shallow punctures sparser about 



