Revision of tJie Australian Aphodiides. 175 



are short and strongly dilated towards the apex, but not trans- 

 versely carinate. The top of the front declivity of the elytra is 

 not distinctly margined, but is defined and abrupt [as compared 

 with the same in (e.g.) Aphodius]. 



My Ataenius mendax must be transferred to this genus. I 

 have received from Mr. Lea some specimens under the name 

 Ammoecius nitidicollis, Macl., which also appertain to Saprosites. 

 Macleay's description mentions no character indicating the genus 

 of his species and is so brief that it might apply to any one of 

 several Ataenii, etc., before me. Presumably, however, Mr. Lea 

 has compared them with Macleay's type and considered them 

 identical, though it must be noted that I have seen a different 

 species (a Saprosites, however) in Mr. Griffiths' collection, which 

 their owner tells me Mr. Lea regarded also as S. nitidicollis, 

 Macl. As, however, the specimens Mr. Lea sent to me agree 

 better with Macleay's description than does that shown me by 

 Mr. Griffith (the head in the latter being quite strongly 

 punctulate), I think it is best to claim Macleay's name for the 

 former and to treat it as correctly named by Mr. Lea. 



The Australian species which I refer to Saprosites do not 

 seem to have strong external sexual characters. In the three 

 species of which I have both sexes [mansuetu.s, Blackb. ; 

 nitidicollis, -Macl. (?); and mendax, Blackb.] I can find no sexual 

 characters on the head or in the armature of the front tibiae, but 

 the sexes differ in the structure of the abdomen ; the pygidium in 

 one sex (probably male) being vertical and more convex, while in 

 the other sex it is flatter, and sufficiently deflected under the 

 insect to be visible when the specimen is laid on its back. In 

 the former sex the ventral sutures are strongly sinuous with 

 their front margin multidenticulate; in the latter a little 

 (nitidicollis and mendax) or much (mansuetus) less so. 



S. MANSUETUS, Sp. nOV. 



Minus elongatus; .sat parallel us; minus convexus; fere glaber; 

 sat nitidus; piceus, nonnihil rufescens, palpis antennis pedibusque 

 plus minusve dilutioribus; capita subtilissime vix crebre punctu- 

 lato, antice late leviter emarginato; sutura clypeali haud 

 perspicua; prothorace subquadrato quam longiori fere ut 4 ad 3 

 latiori, supra dupliciter (subtiliter et fortiter) subacervatim 



