208 Transactions. 



Exomesites optimus, Broun. 1754. Man. N.Z. Coleopt., p. 972 

 (Plate XVI, fig. 11.) / 



Shining, piceous ; the shoulders, sides, and apical portion of elytra rufo- 

 castaneous or testaceous, the disc sometimes fuscous ; legs yellow or fusco- 

 testaceous, the l^ase of the femora and the knees fuscous or piceous. ! 



Rostrum very coarsely and closely punctured, sometimes however there 

 is only one interocular puncture, near the antennae there are short longi- 

 tudinal rugpe and striae, the apex more finely sculptured. Thorax with a 

 more or less evident smooth median I'ne, its punctuation very coarse but 

 irregular, with some smooth intervals, the punctures finer and more con- 

 fluent in front. Elytra somewhat uneven above, slightly impressed across 

 the middle ; their scu'pture coarse and irregular, punctate-striate at the 

 base, striate behind, interstices with fine serial punctures, 3rd, 5th, and 7th 

 subcarinate near the base, humeral angles slightly porrect. 

 Female. — Incog. 



3 . Length, 2| lines ; breadth, | line. 

 Mount Egmont and Mount Te Aroha. Very rare. 



Allaorus, Broun. Man. N.Z. Coleopt., p. 1494. 



Body rather small, convex, almost elongate-ovate, shining, apparently 

 glabrous. 



Rostrum of nearly the same length as the thorax, arched, stout but not 

 broad, almost parallel, usually very slightly dilated at the point of antennal 

 insertion, distinctly marked oil by a transverse frontal impression on the 

 head ; the rostrum, near its base, is more evidently arched than it is else- 

 where. Scrobes deep, oblique, almost convergent underneath. Scape stout, 

 gradually incrassate, inserted quite in front of the middle, reaching the 

 eye. Funiculus finely setose, basal joint stout, 2-7 distinctly articulated, 

 transverse, gradually thickened so that the 7th is nearly as broad as the 

 base of the club, which is ovate or oblong-oval ; the large basal articulation 

 is nearly nude, the remainder densely pubescent and indistinctly annulate. 

 Eyes minute but distinct, placed somewhat near the surface and the thoracic 

 apex. Thorax longer than broad, oviform. Scutellum minute or altogether 

 absent. Elytra obovate or cordiform, their base slightly wider than that 

 of the thorax, and slightly oblique towards the suture ; they are much 

 narrowed near the extremity. Femora simple, stout, and elongate. Tibiae 

 evidently uncinate, the anterior emarginate and ciliate inwardly below the 

 middle, and acute at the extremity. Tarsi slender, their basal joint as long 

 as the terminal, 3rd narrow, not at all lobate ; claws minute. 



Prosternum deeply incurved in front, the coxae almost contiguous. 

 Intermediate coxae distinctly but not at all widely separated. Meta- 

 sternum abbreviated, not longer than the 2nd ventral segment, broadly 

 impressed. Basal segment large, broadly impressed, its hind suture fine 

 and indistinct. 



Five genera, three of .which are European, one American, and the other 

 belonging to the Sandwich Islands, agree more or less with Allaorus, par- 

 ticularly as regards the abbreviation of the metasternum. Oodemas is at 

 once differentiated by its aeneous surface and bilobed tarsi, and Cotaster 

 by its short basal abdominal segment. In Aparoprion the thorax is sub- 

 globose and the tarsi lobate. Li/mantes is insufficiently described, but has 

 the thorax elongate-quadrate and the rostrum subquadrangular, two cha- 

 racters manifestly inapplicable to Allaorus. The other, Styphloderes, is 

 distinguished by its subdepressed body and broadly lobed 3rd tarsal joint. 



