( ofi9 ) 



psendo-joints, and the second segment of the tarsi is divided in the adult hy <a 

 pseudo-joint. 



Oriental Region.^Ouly one species is known. 



1. Polyctenes molossus Gigl. (1864) (PI. XII. tig. 1-4). 



Ad. — Sujira capite jironotoque ctenidio instrnctis ; ctenidio gnlari capitis angulos 

 basales fere attingente ; segmento 1° dorsali abdominali setis lougis vestito. 



Tur. — Supra sine ctenidiis ; ctenidio gulari ante medium lateris termina'o ; 

 abdomine sine setis longis ; tarsis cpiatuor posticis triarticulatis, arliculo 3'" duobns 

 primis simul sumptis fere du])lo longiore ; articnlo 1" autennarum absque sj)iiiis 

 crassis obtusis. 



Patria : China, India. 



VnUielems molossus Giglioli, 1 .i\ (Amoy, off }fohiss,is) ; "Westw., I.i\ tab. S'J. fig. A.B., tab. 40. fie 



A— E (1874) (" ? " ex errore). 

 Pohjctenes bjriti' Waterhouse, Trans. En/. Sor. Lonil. p. 311. tab, 9. fig. 1. 2 (1879) (Secunderabad, 



Madras Pre.'i., off Me/j<uUrnia li/ra, one specimen) ; Spei-ser, Zoo!. Juhrb. Suppl. vii. p. 375 



(1004): Dist., in Fauna Brit. luil, Bhi/nch. iii. fig. 10(190G) ; Speiser, Eec. hid. Mns. iii. p. 272 



(1909). 

 Eufoctenes li/rae ]Vaterh, Kirkaldy, Canad, Enl. xxxviii. p. 37,') (1900). 



The original specimens, which have not been traced 3-et, require re-examination. 

 Westwood's figures, although wonderful in execution, are obviously deficient in 

 detail. The specimens were mounted in balsam and evidently flattened by pressure, 

 being rendered so transparent, according to ^Vestwond, that " it was very difficult to 

 determine the precise difterences between some portions of the dorsal and ventral 

 surfaces of the insects." 



The British Museum contains two specimens taken otf a Chinese bat, one a ? , 

 the other immature, which agree with Westwood's figures, e.\cept fur some detail in 

 the proportions and in the bristles and spines. The adult ?, moreover, is identical 

 with the Indian ? described by Waterhouse as Ii/i-ne. This hjrae has always been 

 considered distinct from molossus on account of the much longer head sliown in 

 Waterhouse's figure and some difterences in the details of structure. Kirkaldy even 

 thought tlie ditferences important enough for separating li/rae and mo/ossus generi- 

 cally. However, in the original figure of li/rae the proportions are not quite correct. 

 We have measured the type of ti/fae under the microscope, the specimen now being 

 taken off the card and made accessible for minute study by being mounted in 

 balsam. The measurements as well as the combs and bristles are the same as in 

 tiie Chinese ?, of whicii PI. XII. fig. 1 and 2 are fairly correct representations, 

 we think. 



As regards the original figures of the adult sj)ecimeu of molossus, they differ 

 from the specimens of li/rae chiefly in the following points : The first segment 

 of the antenna lacks the short spines which in Ij/rae (PI. XII. fig. 2) are placed 

 near the anterior edge. The sides of the pronotum are almost evenly rounded, 

 the prothora.x being widest before the centre instead of behind it. The sntural 

 gap between the elytra is much smaller, and the suture itself is drawn as e.xtending 

 to the base. 



As the prothorax is hollow underneath, the sides being turned downward, 

 it becomes considerably wider anteriorly if pressure is applied. This was undoubt- 

 edly the case in the tyjie of molossus. We mention further on a specimen of 

 Eoctenes nycteridis in which one side of the pronotum is widest before the middle 



