( 123 ) 



'' une(jnal " pniictnatiou, as they have at the base (if each elytron, besides the usual 

 puuctuatiou, 11. nnm1)er of larger punctures with the exterior border more raised 

 (which gives the punctures a semilunar appearance), forming one or two short rows 

 not extending, in front, to the basal margin, and running nearly to the middle of the 

 elytron (fig. 11) ; but these species (Sc: tkoracicalig, cflebensis, weisei, etc.) are more 

 closely allied to European ones than other species without that " unequal " punctua- 

 tion {Sc. aherrans, dohertyi, etc.). Moreover, as some s])ecies have only one row of 

 jjunctures (for example, Sc. mujdictitus), others slight traces of rows only, while 

 others again — although closely allied with regard to other important characters — 

 have no traces of rows, I believe it certain that the existence or absence of rows of 

 punctures is merely a specific character, and that there is no need to put those 

 species into different genera. 



The punctures of the metasternum * of must of the species described in tlie 

 following paper are of the same semilunary shape as the larger punctures on the 

 elytra, and their arrangement ma}' give us specific characters rather easily to be 

 seen. Another very important character of the species is the sliape of the " coxal 

 line " engraved at each side of the first abdominal segment. The coxal lines, being 

 more or less semicircular (figs. 19 and 21) in many species, have iu Sc. aberrans 

 and its nearest allies (Sc. dokert//i, biimpressus. conjormis, sternalis, car/ants) their 

 exterior part close to or confluent with the hind margin of the segment (figs. 17 

 and 18), a character upon which Mulsant founded his sub-genus Diomus (Spec. Col. 

 Tri. Sec, 1851, p. i'51), and I am not quite sure whether Diomus may be only a 

 section of Sct/iniMS or a different genus. In studying Sc. aberrans and its allies, 

 I found that their antennae proved to be a little longer than they usually are in 

 European and Asiatic true Scymnu^, as chiefly their third joint is rather slender 

 and long (figs. 12, 13, and 14); the second joint, being narrowed at the base, is very 

 distinctly separated from the first ; the latter is much slenderer in Sr. aberrans 

 and its allies, than in some Brazilian Diomus I have examined with regard to this 

 question. The last a.ntennai-y joint is rather broad, and strongly truncate at the 

 apex, especially in Sc. aberrans and varians. 



The mandibles have the tip so very slightly bifid in Sc. dohertyi (fig. 15), that, 

 looking at the broad side, we may scarcely see the bifid character ; the bifurcation 

 is stronger and more evident iu Sc. rariuns (fig. 16), but not at all so strong as in 

 Brazilian Diomus and European Sci/mniis. Moreover again, Sc. aherrans and its 

 allies have the ti]) of the posterior episterna (figs. 17 and 1^) broader and more 

 straightly truncate than is the case in true Scymni/s. 



Most of the Eastern species I have seen are verj' convex, some nearly hemi- 

 spherical (cf (iorham, /. c.) ; but that is not a character common to all of them, as 

 for example Sc. thomusi is feebly convex and rather oblong. 

 I. Ooxal lines reaching the hind margin of the segment, with their exterior 

 portion jiarallel to the hind margin, or confluent with if. 



A. Elytra black, with the apex testaceous. 

 a. Prothorax testaceous. 



a'. Elj-tra without impression at each side of the scutelluin, size more 



than 2J mm. : Sc. aberrans sp. uov. 

 b' . Elytra with a slight impression at each side of the seutellum, si/.e 

 about 1 J mm. : Sc. biimprcssas sp. nov. 



* The punctuaiiou of the niotiwtcmum in figs. 17 to 21 is not quite exact. 



