448 AUSTRALIAN COLEOPTERA, WITH DESCRIPTIOXS OF NEW SPECIES, 



short space about the middle of their length) and punctured with 

 blackish punctures, and being otherwise almost without markings, 

 — although when carefully looked at some indication of a fuscous 

 spot can be seen on each of them near the suture before and close 

 behind its middle and near the middle of the external margin ; it 

 is also characterised by having the thinly dispersed punctures on 

 the interstices between the striae of about the same size as those 

 in the striae. The 5th ventral segment is excised as though a 

 segment of a circle greater than a semicircle had been cut out, so 

 that the apices of the margin of the excision point partly towards 

 each other and not directly hindward ; the margin of the excision 

 is however flattened (or even a little convex) in front, — this being 

 especially conspicuous if the segment be viewed obliquely from 

 behind, — from which point of view the excision looks almost 

 square. There is a fairly large 6th segment visible which is 

 terminated by two filaments. 



The closely punctured head separates this species from all I 

 have previously described of the genus, except diqjlojntnctatus, 

 discolor and Flindersi ; the combination of a sparsely punctured 

 prothorax and wholly testaceous palpi will distinguish it from all 

 the latter. From some of M. Fairemaire's species (as also from 

 B. Australice, Muls.) its elytra not bispinose at the apex are a 

 sufficient distinction. From the rest (except sticticus which has 

 the head almost impunctulate in front) it differs in having the 

 apex of the elytra pointed, — not obtuse. If this latter distinction 

 be (as I think it is) founded on a variable character, — it also 

 differs from the three species concerned as follows, — from B. ovi- 

 jyennis in being more elongate^ with the prothorax not " densely 

 punctured," and from B. aj^proximans and stigmaticoUis in its 

 more sparsely punctured prothorax and apparently in the greater 

 comparative width of the same ; M. Fairemaire distinguishes both 

 those species from the European B. affinis by their prothorax 

 being " notably narrower than the elytra," whereas in the present 

 species there is less difference than in B. affinis between the width 

 of the prothorax and of the elytra. I observe that the eyes are a 

 little more strongly granulated than in B. affinis. 



