196 REVISIONAL NOTKS ON AUSTRALIAN' CARABIDAE, 



homologous with the seventh interstice which occurs throuj^hout the tribe Merizo- 

 dini, and in Amhlytelus and some other genera of the Pterostichini, and also in 

 the tribe Bembidiini in the genus Ocys. It is probable that T. amplipennis and 

 T. nervostis SI., belong to a stem in which apical strides were wanting,, but 

 that '/'. yarrensis Blackb., T. aw-stralicus SL, and T. captus Blackb., are de- 

 scended from species which had these strioles developed. The tixed setiferous 

 pores or punctures of the elytra have considerable taxonomic value; they may 

 occur on the third, fifth, seventh, and ninth interstices. • The setiferous piftic- 

 tures of the ninth interstice are always present, but no use is made of them 

 here. On the inner side of the apical striole, well back from its anterior ex- 

 tremity, in those species with two diseal setiferous punctures, a puncture may 

 be seen wliich is homologous with the setiferous puncture or punctures so often 

 found in the Carabidae near the apex of the seventh interstice 

 {e.g., tribes Merizodini and Pterostichini); the homologies of this fixed apical 

 puncture of the seventh interstice can be made out best in T. airupUpennis, 

 wliere. there being no apical striole, it can be seen on the inner side of the 

 eighth stria. Setiferous punctures occur on the fifth interstice in T. inter- 

 putictattis Putz., and in an undescribed species allied to T. ovaius Motsch., 

 whicii lias been sent to me by Mr. H. E. Andrewes ticketed "Nilgiri Hills." The 

 fixed setiferous punctures of the disc are of recognised value in the classification 

 of the species of Tachys; in many species there are two diseal punctures, in 

 others only one. Generally when there are two diseal punctures they 

 are on, or at the position of, the third interstice; when they are so placed there 

 never seems to be a third puncture, but sometimes {T. bifoveatiis Macl., and 

 extra-Australian allied species! only the posterior diseal punclure (non-seti- 

 ferous) remains on, or at, the position of the third stria. Some species {e.g., 

 T. murrumbidgeihsis) have two diseal punctures on the fourth interstice and a 

 third one, high up on the apical declivity, on the third interstice. In species 

 with one diseal puncture, forward on the elytra, it may be on the third, fourth, 

 fifth or sixth interstice, and, in all these cases, there is a second setiferous punc- 

 ture liigh up on the apical declivity, either inside the anterior extremity of the 

 apical striole, or before its extremity; this setiferous puncture of the apical 

 declivity is evidently homologous witli the third puncture of T. murrumbid- 

 getisis and not with the puncture mentioned above as occurring l)eside the apical 

 striole far back from its extremitj', which is also present in '/'. murriimbid- 

 gensis. The single setiferous puncture before the middle, whether it occurs 

 on the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth interstice must be considered to be the same 

 thing, its original position having been on the third interstice, whence it h.-us 

 shifted to as far out as the sixth ; evidences of this may be seen in a sliglit 

 irregularity of the sculpture of the elytra beside the puncture inwardly in T. 

 triangularis Niet., in which it is on the fourth interstice, and in Oriental species 

 in my collection where it is on the fifth interstice; in other Oriental species in 



'T. intcrpxmctatuK Putz., from Celebes, has the elytra between the first and 

 ninth interstices (this last convex) sparsely .setigeropunctate ; the punctures are 

 strong and are disposed in rows on or at the position of interstices 2 — 8. It seems 

 probable that setosity of the upper surface was a character of the primitive Bem- 

 bidiini. It occurs to a marked degree in the present-day genera Limnuxti.t 

 and Amphidion . It may be noted that some species of Tachys (eg. T. bntJiiii- 

 poniis Macl. and T. murrumbidgfiiKi.'i have the upper surface punctulate. and, 

 though the punctures are no longer setiferous, we may suppose such .species to 

 have descended from ancestors in which setae were present. 



