1872.1 



133 



I have mucli pleasure iu dedicating this insect to Mr. Lewis 

 (who practically also discovered D. ^nigipennis, as he described it to 

 me in a letter from Japan before the publication of the late Colonel 

 Motschoulsky's description) ; for, supposing that future explorers 

 may detect satisfactory links between it and hlaptoides, it will still 

 apparently deserve recognition as a well marked race. It may, how- 

 ever, be observed, that during a period of nearly eight years Mr. 

 Lewis and his native collectors have especially sought for Damaster 

 iu any form in very many localities. 



From Mr. Lewis's account, these insects are known by the native 

 name " Biwa-Mushi," or "banjo-beetle," derived from their fiddle- 

 shape ; and the majority of his specimens were caught by native 

 wood-cutters on the floors of their open dwellings on the hill-sides at 

 night, or immediately after early dawn. 



10, Lower Park Field, Putney, S.W. : 

 l-Uh October, 1872. 



NOTES ON RETEROMERA, AND DESCEIPTIONS OF NEW GENERA 

 AND SPECIES (No. 2). 



BY F. BATES. 



Epiphtsa ovata, sp. n. 



Entirely black, more or less shining, and with only a trace of the villose hairs 

 that clothe the head, between the eyes, in E. JlavicoUis ; labrum not ciliate with 

 long hairs ; middle lobe of epistoma squarely triiucated in front ; sides of prothorax 

 much less thickened than in E. flavicoUis, and without the coarse, longitudinal 

 rugosities exhibited by that species ; anteriorly on each side, and within the margin, 

 are a few large well-defined punctures, the margin itself being studded with small 

 tubercles ; the elytra are much narrower behind the shoulders than in E. JlavicoUis, 

 which gives to the body a more regularly oval form ; the discs are distinctly but 

 irregularly punctured, and sprinkled with small, scattered granules, which become 

 larger and more numerous near the margin and apex ; the epipleuraj, or inflexed 

 portions of the elytra, are studded with large, well-defined, oblique tubercles, which 

 become smaller and more dispersed near the inner edge, or epipleural fold (in E. 

 JlavicoUis the tubercles on the epipleurse are smaller, flatter, more confused, and 

 thickly interspersed with granules) : the punctuation, &c., on the under surface, is 

 much lighter, the legs less asperate, slightly longer and more slender than in E. 

 Jiavicollis ; tlie prosternum is not channelled throughout its length, but the apical 

 two-thirds are depressed and longitudinally corrugated (in E. Jiavicollis the proster- 

 num is strongly grooved, or channelled, throughout its length, and this groove 

 gradually opens out as it approaches the front). Long. 9 — 85 lines. 



Hah. : Benguela ; two examples. 



My comparisons of these two species are based upon six examples 

 of flavicoUis and two of ovata ; in four of the examples of the former 



