"199 [June, 



in its stouter, more convex form, the head more deeply sunk in the pro- 

 thoi'ax, the dissimilar antennae, etc., as well as in having setigerous 

 tubercles on the sides of the thorax. 



Tricliosphaeriestes fryif n. sp. 



Elongate oval, convex, setose, uniformly testaceous; antennae stout, 

 thickened towards the apex, last three joints not forming a sharply-defined 

 club. Prothorax evenlj-^ convex, without marked depressions, coarsely but not 

 very closely punctate ; the sides immar|iinate, with minute scattered setigerous 

 tubercles. Elytra transversely depressed behind the base, with rows of seti- 

 gerous punctures not very closely placed ; these punctures, very large on 

 the anterior half of the elytra, become much smaller behind the transverse 

 depression. 



Length 2f mm. 



Hah. Beazil, Eio de Janeiro {Fry). 



Two specimens of indeterminate sex in the Fry collection. This is 

 apparently the first species of the group to be recorded from the eastern 

 side of the South American continent, and it cannot well be confused 

 with any other described form. 



13. Oncosalpingus, n. gen. 



Allied to Sphaeriestes Steph. { = Salpinyits auctt.). Body pilose ; the hind 

 legs of the S remarkably modified. Rostrum short, not evidently widened to- 

 wards the apex, the dorso-lateral carina feebly emarginate above the insertion 

 of the antennae, the lateral grooves moderately visible from above and abutting 

 upon the eyes. Antennae slender, gradually thickened towards the apex ; 2nd 

 joint equal to 4th, a little shorter than 3id, 6th to 10th ovate, 11th half as 

 long again as the 10th. Elytral epipleura incomplete, vanishing about the 

 level of the third abdominal segment. 



S . Coxae of posterior legs produced ventrally into a rounded tooth or 

 lobe ; femora inflated, subpyriform ; tibiae very stout, arcuate in basal half, 

 the curve being produced inwards into a stout subcouical tooth, the apical 

 half straight, bent outwards at the base of this tooth ; intermediate tibiae 

 sinuate on inner side 



The occurrence of this type of leg-structure in yei another family of 

 the Heteromera is interesting, particularly in one in which secondary 

 sexual characters are so little in evidence as they are in the Pythidae. 

 Inflated hind femora are most freely developed in the Oedemeridae 

 (e. g. Oedemera, Oncomera, Selenopalpus, etc.), but they are present in 

 certain Meloidae (Roria), Melandryidae {Osphya), and XylopMlidae. 

 In all cas'es the character appears as a sexual modification of the male, 

 and is not correhited with any power of leaping, as is the tliickened 

 femora of the Halticidue, of OrcJies/es, Scirtes, etc., where it is common 

 to both sexes. 



