SONDAX. 177 



Genus SONDAX, n. g. 



Type, S. repens, sp. n. 



Entirely apterous ; build slender. Antennae cylindrical. Head 

 broad, smooth and tumid. Pronotum as broad as the head, broader 

 than long, slightly wider posteriorly than anteriorly; sides all 

 straight, almost rectangular. Mesonotum smooth. Legs slender 

 and long ; first and third tarsal segments about equally long. 

 Abdomen with glandular folds prominent, dilated before the apex 

 and then narrowed. Last dorsal segment sloping, trapezoidal^ 

 strongly narrowed posteriorly. Forceps with branches contiguous 

 at the base, long and slender. 



Range. Madras. 



This genus is founded on a single male in the Oxford 

 Museum. It has a strong superficial resemblance to Ohelura, 

 Syntonus, and Cordax ceylonicus, but differs from all known 

 Opistliocosmiince in the entire absence of any discernible vestige of 

 elytra. 



In the form of the last dorsal segment it approaches Syntonus, 

 but the pronotum is much broader. 



112. Sondax repens, sp. n. (Fig. 63.) 



Small, slender, of a uniform light reddish ochraceous. Head 

 reddish, smooth and tumid. Last dorsal segment strongly sloping 

 and strongly narrowed postei'iorly, smooth ; posterior margin 

 with a slight tumid elevation on each side. Penultimate ventral 

 segment rounded. Forceps with the branches very slender and 

 long, contiguous at the base with a vertical spine or tooth directed 

 somewhat backwards, then slender, elongate, and arcuate, enclosins 

 a long elliptical area. 



6 



Length of body 7 mm. 



„ forceps 4 „ 



Mabeas (Oxford Mus.). 



Type in the Oxford University Museum. 



This remarkable species may be at once distinguished by the 

 entire absence of elytra and the very broad pronotum. In 

 the form of the last dorsal segment, of the tarsi and of the 

 forceps (excepting the vertical tooth) it approaches Syntonvs 

 neolobophoroides ; the forceps resemble those of Cordax ceylonicus, 

 and, to a certain extent, those of Ohelura asiatica and 0. tamid. 

 In build and colour all these species have a strong superficial 

 resemblance. The structure of the pronotum, elytra, legs, and 

 last dorsal segment, however, is so important that it seems to point 

 to a converging specialisation from different sources, giving a false 

 appearance of close relationship. The general form of the forceps 

 is very similar in all these cases, and the differences between them 

 are less than is often the case in several species of one genus. In 

 Ohelura tamul and S. neolobophoroides we see the beginnings of the 



