170 PROCEEDINGS OF TEE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. 42. 



attacliment of scape, thence widening considerably and sharply out- 

 lined; scape attached at about apical fourth, not quite reaching eyes; 

 funicle 7-jointed, the first elongate, about tmce as long as second; 

 second elongate, others becoming shorter and more transverse; club 

 elhptical, jointed. Eyes separated above by width of beak, almost 

 completely concealed by ocular lobes when beak is in repose. Head 

 spongily squamose, deeply punctate, bristling with erect black scales. 

 Prothorax with very uneven surface, widest at anterior third, then 

 suddenly narrowed to apex which is one-half as wide as base; apex 

 arcuately projecting over head, ocular lobes prominent, base shallowly 

 concave : vestiture ruffled, with overlapping white, dirty gray or brown 

 scales; erect larger scales of white and black in bristhng patches, 

 the black patches arranged in a square at base inclosing four small 

 wliite patches; front and sides lighter wdth black scales scattered 

 throughout. Scutellum concealed. Elytra oval, strongly narrowed 

 behind with the suggestion of humeri in projections of the eighth 

 interspaces over the basal angles of the thorax; strige impressed with 

 large deep punctures each bearing a large, round, concave, striate 

 white scale; interspaces elevated, the odd intervals more so than the 

 alternate intervals; the basal margin is also considerably elevated: 

 vestiture of surface spongy, the odd intei'spaces bristling with erect 

 scales, the even interspaces Avith a few; the erect scales brown, white, 

 and black, arranged in transverse fasciae across the el3^tra especially 

 in the post-humeral and post-median regions; a wliite patch of large 

 flat scales connecting the fifth punctures of the fourth and fifth inter- 

 spaces is quite prominent, as are also black patches of erect scales at 

 the base of the third interspace and on the same interspace between 

 the white patches. 



Rostral canal deep, forming an emargination and a pocket in 

 the mesosternum. Mesocoxse less \\'idely separated than the other 

 pairs. Abdominal intercoxal process large, broad, angtdate apically. 

 First ventral segment at center twice as long as second; third and 

 fourth together hardly longer than second; fifth slightly larger, the 

 last three segments deeply inclosed by the elytra. Vestiture beneath 

 close-set, the scales overlapping, dull in color, mtli larger scales in the 

 punctures; second ventral with two black apical spots, last three seg- 

 ments black pubescent with anterior rows of close-set brownish scales. 

 Legs annulate with the appressed spongy pubescence and bristling with 

 ei-ect scales. Femora slender, mutic; tibiae basally arcuate, apically 

 strongl}" unguiculate and with a strong cluster of yellow bristles just 

 below the unguis, apical margin clad with stout black cihse ; tarsal 

 claws strong, divergent, simple. 



This species bears a strong resemblence to TJiecesternus albidus in 

 form and in its peculiar vestiture. Old specimens wiU not display 

 the brilliance of the black and white spots as described above. 



Type.— Cat. No. 14477, U.S.N.M. 



