Australian and Tastnanian Scydmaenidae. 227 



mount speeiiuens, after treatiueiit, in Canada balsam, and smh 

 treatment destroys specimens for ordinary examination; so that 

 where but few specimens are available it is not advisable to so treat 

 them. While not contend in,ii[ that liidden characters should never 

 be used for the definition of genera, it certainly appears preferable 

 to use such characters as can be made out by the use of an ordinarx 

 lens, or l)y aid of tlie microscope, without the destruction of type 

 specimens. 



PJuu/oiiopJunta parvicollis, n.sp. 



Bright castaneous. abdomen tarsi and palpi somewhat paler. 

 Moderately clothed witli not very long, subde^^ressed. stramineous 

 hairs or pubescence, disc of prothorax glabrous. 



Head about as long as wide. Eyes rather small, latero-frontal 

 and moderately prominent. Antennae moderately long. Prothoror 

 moderately convex, slightly longer than wide; base with four 

 moderate impressions. FAyira at base distinctly wider than pro- 

 thorax, and fully thrice as wade across middle; sides strongly and 

 evenly rounded, each side of base with two impressions; punctures 

 rather dense and distinct. Legs long and rather thin ; hind coxae 

 touching; four hind femora pedunculate. Length, 1^, mm. 



Eah. — N. S. Wales : Sydney, Ourimbah (A. M. Lea). 



The prothorax is unusually small in comparison with the elytra, 

 a character which at once distinguishes it from the preceding 

 species. 



The elytra have a few rather lon^ hairs scattered amongst the 

 ordinary ones, but they are not very distinct except from tlie 

 sides. The second joint of the antennae is distinctly longer than 

 the third, the latter is briefly cylindrical, the fourth to sixth are 

 more or less globular, and of even width, the seventh is slightly 

 longer and distinctly wider than the sixth, the others gradually 

 increase in size, and, as also the seventh, are more or less trape- 

 zoidal; the eleventh is subconical and distinctly shorter than the 

 ninth and tenth combined. The antennae therefore could fairly be 

 regarded as having a rather loose five-jointed club, although at a 

 glance the joints appear to be of subcontinuous width. The medio- 

 basal impressions of the prothorax are transverse, the lateral ones 

 are oblique, and all are more or less feebly connected together bv 

 a transverse impression. The elytral punctures are quite distinct, 

 even before abrasion. 



