436 STUDIES IN AUSTRALIAN ENTOMOLOGY, 



short, near basal angle ; a few punctures in the basal impressions. 

 Elytra a little wider than prothorax (3-7 x 2-3 mm.), depressed 

 (very lightly convex), very gently declivous to base on each side 

 of suture, roundly but not abruptly declivous to apex, truncate at 

 base, widely rounded at apex ; sides subparallel, hardly narrowed 

 to base ; stria? shallow, simple, extending to base and apex, second 

 rising in a punctiform impression at base ; a short oblique striole 

 on second interstice at base ; interstices flat, lightly convex on 

 lateral and posterior declivities ; the single puncture of third 

 placed about posterior third near second stria ; ninth in- 

 tei'stice punctate, the punctures more widely placed in 

 middle of length ; basal border with a strong short tooth 

 at shoulders ; lateral border narrow, reflexed. Prosternum 

 not impressed between coxte, truncate and margined at 

 base ; the episterna impunctate ; mesosternal and metasternal 

 episterna and sides of metasternum punctate. Venti-al 

 segments finely transversely sulcate, obsoletely rugose laterally, 

 fourth, fifth and sixth bipunctate towards middle, apical quadri- 

 punctate along posterior margin. 



Length 6-5, breadth 2-3 mm. 



Hob. — Ferntree Gully near Melbourne. (A single specimen 

 taken in the ranges between Ferntree Gully and the Village 

 Settlement, 19th Nov., 1893.) 



In general appearance this species resembles the smaller species 

 of Simodontus, but differs decidedly from them in the rectangular 

 basal angles of the prothorax, and the unipunctate third interstice 

 of the elytra. I do not feel certain that it should be considered 

 congeneric with S. /mncliventris (the type of the genus). My 

 single example is a female, and probably for that reason has 

 not the labial palps with a thick terminal joint, or the apical 

 segment of the abdomen deeply bifoveolate as in S. punctiventris ; 

 but, as it is more closely allied to that species than to any other 

 Australian Feronide, and as the classification of our Feronides is 

 certainly far from perfect yet, it seems better to err on the side 

 of having too few genera rather than to make them to try and 

 maintain an artificial and prol^ably hopelessly confused system of 

 classification. 



