BY ARTHUl! M. LEA. 383 



closely imnctuivil,"' a cluiracter wliicli should at once distinguish it from IJ. elejait- 

 tulidf. and other species having the prothorax red and elytra black. The legs 

 vary somewhat in colour, on some specimens being entirely pale, on others the hind 

 ones, or the four hind ones being partly black or infuscated; but on all of them 

 the liead is entirely red. Two of the specimens, from Tamworth, have the pro- 

 thorax. excei)t for its narrow basal edging, entirely red, and elytra entirely black; 

 two, from Brisbane, are similarly coloured, except that a pale spot is vaguely in- 

 dicated on each elytron about the basal third; two, from Cairns and Charters 

 Towers, have the prothorax red and the elytra with two reddish fasciae, the first 

 commencing on each side at the basal third, and dilated so that near the suture, 

 which it almost touches, it occupies about the basal half, the second fascia is 

 apical ; one, from Cairns, is like the preceding ones, cxcejit that the subbasal fascia 

 appears as two large round disconnected spots; two, from Sydney, have a large 

 black blotch occupying most of the pronotum, and the elytra are entirely black; 

 the last specimen, from Cairns, is like the preceding ones, except that on each 

 elytron a pale spot, as on the ones from Brisbane, is vaguely indicated . A 

 specimen from Cape York, in the British Museum, has the elytra pale, except 

 that the base and suture are very narrowly Idack, and that tliere are feel)le infusca- 

 tions on the sides. 



DiTROPinus onF:wAiixii Baly. 



Specimens before me 1.75 — 2.25 mm. in length, ajjpear to belong to this 

 species; their prothoracic jjunctures are usually very feeble. They are from 

 New South Wales (Whitton and Forest Reefs) and South Australia (Adelaide. 

 Port Lincoln, Goolwa and Quorn) . 



DiTROPIDUS ANTENNARIUS Balv, 1877. 



(I>. antennarius Chp., 1878; I), baccaefonms Chp., var. ) 



This species, from the female, waa descriljed by Chapius as entirely pale, 

 except that the five apical joints of the antennae were dark; there are six females 

 before me that agree with his description, except that the junction of the prothorax 

 and elytra is very narrowly black (apparently an invariable character in pale 

 species) ; they are from Brisbane, Cairns and Bloomfleld River, their antennae 

 are of f|uite the ordinary type in the genus, l)ut the male has very different ones, 

 seven of the joints being dark, and all, after the second, being several times longer 

 than wide, so that the tip of the eleventh joint actually passes the elytra ; a charac- 

 ter that, by his table, would generically separate the sexes. 



Baly's description of colours differs from Chapius' only in six of the joints 

 of the antennae being noted as black, and "Body beneatli and legs more or less 

 stained with piceous"; he notes the name as being "Suffr. MS," and probal)ly 

 Chapius also received his specimens with that manuscript name. 



Yar. A. Five females from Roekhampton, one from Boweu and one from 

 Brisbane, differ in having the metasternum, abdomen and hind femora black, and 

 sometimes other parts of the legs infuscated, the antennae have from four to six of 

 the apical joints dark. A male from Roekhampton, and one from Bowen, are 

 coloured as the females, except that seven of the joints of the antennae are dark, 

 their antennae are almost as long as those of the typical form, extending exactly 

 to the tips of the elytra. The Bowen female is rather larger, 4.5 mm., than usual, 

 and its front legs are almost entirely dark ; except in this variable feature, and for 



