2 74 [December, 



by little asperities, quite dull. In the female the legs are a little shorter and the 

 femora are not quite so swollen. This latter sex is readily distinguished by the 

 much shorter terminal joints of the antennae, and by the tips of the elytra being 

 spread more horizontally. 



Kauai, 8,000ft., autumn ? 1S94 ; Koholuamane, April, 1895. We 

 have received a series of nearly twenty examples, but only two of 

 them are females. These two females differ greatly in size. 



Plagithmtsus aeachnipes, n. sp. 



Gracilis, colore variabilis ; elytris maculis irt'egrularibus, plus minusve 

 conjunctis, tomenti albidi, spatia triangulare in medio libera ; puhescentia 

 in medio corporis plus minusve flavescente ; femoribus basi pallide flavis, 

 pedibus elongatis. Long., 4| — 14 mm. 



Mas., femoribus crassisitsculis. Fern., femoribus gracilibus. 



There are two chief types of coloration of this variable species, one in which 

 the thorax and femora (except the base) are black, and a second in which both are 

 red. The elytra vary in colour from red to nearly black, and also in the extent of 

 the flecks of white tomentum, which sometimes are so extensive and so much united 

 as to cover the apical two-thirds nearly completely, the base is then marked with closely 

 placed sinuous patches, and the angular mark on the dorsum is then very clear and 

 definite. There is a little yellow tomentum, which is distributed on a belt round 

 the middle of the body and is most distinct on the metasternum. The antennae are 

 red. The thorax has two white vittse on the middle and another very indistinct one 

 on each side ; the two lines on the posterior tuberosity stand up very distinctly. 

 The elytra are densely punctured, but in the male the sides behind are shining ; the 

 tibise are slender, the hinder tarsi are densely clothed with white hairs. 



Mr. Perkins procured a series of sixteen specimens of this 

 variable insect in Kauai in May, 1895. Although the sexual difference 

 is so marked, and the female by its slender hind legs has much the 

 appearance of a Clytarlus, yet the generic characters of Plagithmyisus 

 are maintained, except as regard the structure of the abdomen of the 

 latter sex, which departs from its congeners in having the base of the 

 abdomen placed on the same plane as the metasternum. The larger 

 males are extremely similar to the smaller males of P. <squalis, but 

 the two appear to be really distinct. The females vary extremely in 

 size. 



Plagithmtsus cristatus. 



Clytarlus cristatus, Shp., Tr. Ent. See. London, 1878, p. 207. 



Oahu. The material received of this species is inadequate to 



enable me to identify the sexes with certainty. Mr. Gahan thinks 



that the type of Clytus attenuatus, Boisd., will prove to be the female 



of this species. 



Cambridge : August, 1896. 



