512 REVISION OF THE GENUS PAROPSIS, 



under surface, legs and antennae are testaceous, more or less tending 

 to red. The above is a description of a living specimen, and as 

 far as my experience goes the markings are scarcely variable (I 

 have not, however, taken the insect in large numbers); it is by no 

 means the case, however, that all the markings described can 

 invariably be brought out by artificial means in all dried examples; 

 very old examples, also any that were not quite mature when 

 killed, and also such as have been previously treated several times 

 for temporarily restoring the colours, are less responsive to treat- 

 ment than others (as far as my experience extends) ; but in 

 reasonably fresh and mature specimens I rarely am unable to 

 recall sufficient markings for identification. The species is of 

 moderate size (long. 3-3|^ lines) and as yet has been recorded from 

 Tasmania only. Dried examples are entirely testaceous in colour. 

 There can be no reasonable doubt about this being the insect 

 Erichson describes as nohilitata. He gives the metallic markings 

 on each elytron as "three rather large spots placed longitudinally 

 near the suture, of which the posterior two are confluent, and a 

 lateral vitta "; — -the three spots being, no doubt, those which I 

 have indicated as " a large basal blotch close to the scutellum," 

 " a blotch bearing a rough resemblance to an axe in shape," and 

 " a short branch given oflF from the lateral vitta." The best 

 character that I can find (apart from colours) to distinguish 

 nohilitata from its near allies {e.g., dehilis, Chp., and decolorata, 

 Chp.) consists in the lateral portion of its elytra being slightly 

 gibbous close to its line of contact with the discal portion, causing 

 the 10th series of punctures (looked at obliquely from the side) 

 to appear as placed in a distinct stria. 



P. DEBILIS, Chp. 



I have an example from the Chapuis collection (ticketed with 

 this name) which is evidently a very old one (probably consider- 

 ably more than 20 years old) on which treatment with benzine 

 brings out distinct though feeble traces of a metallic elytral 

 pattern; and I have also examples taken in Western Australia 

 (Chapuis' locality) by Messrs. Meyrick and l^ea that are manifestly 



