Revision of the Australian ApJtodiides. 157 



mai'inoratis) tarsisque lividis ; capite inaequaliter sat grosse 

 puuctulato, antice iate vix sinuatim truncato ; oculis perspicue 

 graiiulatis ; prothorace quam longioi'i ut 11 ad 8 latiori, supra 

 acervatim sat grosse (fere ut caput) puuctulato, longitudinaliter 

 (nisi basin versus obsolete) canaliculato, antice niodice angustato, 

 lateribiis modice sat aequaliter rotundatis, angulis anticis leviter 

 acutis posticis obtusis, basi baud marginata ; scutello punctulato ; 

 elytris striatis, striis vix perspicue crenulatis, interstitiis leviter 

 convexis sparsim punctulatis ; tibiis posticis traiisversim bicarin- 

 atis, setis inter se diversis vestitis ; tibiis anticis extus bidentatis. 



Long. 3 ]. Lat. U I. 



Entirely black or piceous-black except the elytra and tarsi. 

 Evidently of the same group as A. erosus, Er. ; lindensis, Blackb. ; 

 victoriae, Blackb.; suberosus, Blackb.; and insignior, Blackb. I 

 do not think it can be the male of suberosus (of which I know 

 only the female), as its differences from that species are not at all 

 of the kind that obtains intersexually in the species (of the group) of 

 which Ijoth sexes are known. The entirely difterent colouring, the 

 puncturation of the pronotum and the non-tuberculate sculpture 

 of the elytra are most unlikely to be sexual characters. The 

 differences from A. lindensis (also known only by the female) are 

 even greater still. 



Victoria ; on the higher mountains (^.,i,'., Baldy) of the Alpine 

 Range. 



Ataenius. 



The Australian species of this genus are probably numerous; 

 notwithstanding their being as a rule much smaller and more 

 obscure insects than the Aphodii, considerably more of them 

 than all the described Australian Aphodii have come before my 

 notice. In Masters' Catalogue, only one species (australis, Har.) 

 stands as Ataenius. Since the date of that catalogue, however, I 

 have myself described seven new species as appertaining to the 

 genus, but two of them (as will be noted below), viz.: — A niendax 

 and zietzi are not correctly placed there, but must be trans- 

 ferred to Saprosites and Psammodius respectively, allied genera 

 which have not been previously recorded as Australian. Sir W. 

 Macleay described eight species as members of the genus 

 Ammoecius, some of which certainly are Ataenii, while one of 



