1916.] 278 



that of the labial pair Inroad and seciiriforiu ; antennae moderately long, filiform, 

 joint 2 very shoit, not half the length of 3, the two together about as long as 

 4, 4-11 elongate, sub-equal. Prothorax short, broad, rounded at the sides, 

 narrowed in front, the hind angles obtuse, the base sinuate and conspicuously 

 margined between the two deep foveae, the disc also trifoveate (two of the 

 foveae placed transversely before the middle and one opposite the scutelluni 

 before the base) and with a small polished spot in the centre. Elytra very long, 

 much wider than the prothorax, sub-parallel, rounded at the apex. Penultimate 

 joint of each tarsus widened and lobed, the claws toothed at the base. Leng-th 

 9i, breadth 3^ mm. ( ? ?) 



Hah. : E. Africa, Lagari (C. S. Betton). 



Oiie specimen, captured between March and May, 1900, at " Mile 



469." Near B. costata ((?), but larger and with much longer elytra, 



and a rougher head and prothorax, the latter more rounded at the 



sides and 5-foveate, the vertex of the head tumid and with a small 



polished spot in the centre (like that on the prothorax) , the inter-ocular 



fovea wanting. Scraptia maxima Pic (the type of which is in the 



Vienna Museum), from Kilimanjaro, is described as having a trifoveate 



prothorax, and it must be nearly related to the present species ; the 



former, however, is said to be pallid in colour and to have the head 



impressed. 



BioPHiDiNA, n. gen. 



Ligula membranous, broad, short, hollowed in the middle in 

 front ; terminal joint of labial palpi stout, sub-triangular, the obliquely 

 truncate, spongy, apical face not longer than the inner or outer sides ; 

 apical joint of maxillary palpi moderately stout, ovate, very obliquely 

 truncate at the apex ; mandibles bifid at the tip ; tarsal claws slightly 

 widened at the base ; the other characters as in Biophida Pasc. 



Type : Biophida minor Pic. 



The non-appendiculate tarsal claws, the simple, sub-triangular, 



apical joint of the labial palpi, and the feebly emarginate ligula, are the 



chief characters of this genus. A somewhat similar modification of the 



labial palpi is to be found in the Tropical American Scraptiid-genus 



Evalces. The type of Biophidina has the general facies of a narrow 



Isomira, fam. Cistelidae. S. africaiia, anted p. 265, may have to be 



transferred to this genus when perfect examples can be obtained for 



examination. 



1 . — Bioph idina minor. 



(Plate VII, figs. 15, \ba, h.) 



Biophida minor Pic, L'Echauge, XXIV, p. 60 (1908). 

 Elongate, rather broad, flattened above, shining, closely pubescent ; obscure 

 testaceous, darker beneath the eyes and joints 4-11 of the antennae infuscate 



