PHYTOPHAGOUS COLEOPTERA PROM PARAGUAY 179 



Head very closely and strongly punctured, navous, the vertex 

 and a triangular shaped central mark, brown or black, antennae 

 black; the lower three joints fiavous below, third and following 

 joints elongate, thorax with nearly straight sides, very closely 

 and strongly punctured, the interior of the punctures dark brown, 

 the basal margin accompanied by a distinct transverse groove, 

 the sides and the middle occupied by more or less distinct brown 

 bands, the interstices raised into numerous small navous smooth 

 spaces, the central band also divided by a narrow fiavous raised 

 ridge or stripe, scutellum fiavous, elytra with an obsolete de- 

 pression below the base , the anterior space near the suture 

 irregularly punctured , the rest of the disc with three more or 

 less distinct double rows of strong punctures, of which those 

 below the shoulders are very irregularly placed, these rows 

 include as usual narrow raised fiavous spaces of more or less 

 elongate shape , of which three may be seen near the suture 

 below the middle, the others at the sides near the apex, a small 

 black spot is placed on the shoulders , another below the base 

 within the depression while two others may be seen near the 

 apex connecting the double rows of punctures; the abdomen 

 tìavous as well as the pygidium, the latter with a central and 

 lateral dark mark ; legs fiavous , spotted with piceous , breast 

 blackish. 



In spite of close resemblance to many other species of the 

 genus, I am unable to identify the present one with any of 

 those described, the nearest of which seems to be P. myslicus, 

 Surf, in which the elytra have also six or several black spots, 

 but in that species the sculpture of the thorax and that of the 

 elytra seems different, the sides of the thorax are described as 

 strongly rounded, the punctured rows of the elytra are irre- 

 gular behind the middle, the opposite being the case in P. pa- 

 raguayensis, the interstices are not transversely connected, as the 

 description says of P. myslicus and the pygidium of the latter 

 and the abdomen are dark brown. It is necessary to compare 

 carefully the sculpturing of the elytra in the species before us 

 with that of the others to distinguish it, one of the principal 



