10 [June, 



reliquis clayam raagnam abruptam clongato-ovalom 3-articulatam rfRciontibiis. La- 

 brum sub-quadratum, antice iiitegruni ciliatum. Mandibulaj siib-triangulares, apice 

 incurvEe acutissinise bifida;, intus in medio profunde emarginata; ct membranu breviter 

 ciliata repletsD. Maxillae biloba), lobis longitudine sub-ffiqualibus ct dense pubescen- 

 tibus ; externo lato, brevi, apicem versus valde dilatato ; interno angustiore, recto, 

 inarmato. Palpi maxillares articulo 1^° curvato, 2do niajoro crassiore sub-claTalo, 

 3tio lulic paulo breviorc sub-poculiformi, viltimo elongate sub-fusifomii ; labiales 

 articulo 1'"" brevi, 2do paulo majorc, ultimo crassiore fusiibrmi-ovali. Mentum sub- 

 quadratum, corneum. Pedes omnes ad basin anguste (interniedii ctiam angustissimc) 

 separati ; tibiis gi'acilibus, apice baud calcaratis ; tarsis 4-articulati?, elongatis, fdi- 

 formibus, articulis l^o, 2^^°, et 3tio angustis sub-oequalibus subtus leviter oblique 

 procluctis, ultimo clongato unguiculis simpiicibus munito. 



A '' Tarplnus' et ' Mhnetes,' imitator. 



lu tlieir siib-fipproximated. coxa?, coiispicitous sc-utellum, and tlicir 

 oblong, setose, aud more or leas scaly, nodiilose bodies, tlie thi-ee veiT 

 peculiar insects for wbicli the present genus and tlie follo'ft'ing one 

 bave been proposed, are very closely related to Endophloeus, from 

 wbicb, however, they recede, inter alia, in possessing a much more 

 abrupt and distinctly 3-articulated club (the club in llndojyJiIoeushaYmg 

 the basal joint so much smaller than the second and third joints as to 

 be scarcely more thau Z»/-articulate) ; aud their inner maxillary lobe, 

 also, appears to be iiuarmed. Inter se they mainly differ in the struc- 

 ture of their prothorax, tibiae, and feet ; in Tarpliiomimus the Jirst 

 being mu(_-h more deej)ly indented, or scooped-out, lateirJly, at regular 

 intervals, the second being (instead of slender and simple) thick and 

 asperated, aud the third having their basal joints much increased in 

 width, and very much more produced (somewhat after the manner 

 which we observe in a few of the Maderian Tarpldi) on the under- 

 side. The surface also in TarpMomijnus is more nodulose, as well as 

 more densely clothed with mud-like scales ; the elytra are minutely 

 divaricated at their tip ; and the abdomen beneath is extremely 

 flattened. 



Judging from the two exponents now before me, the nodules in 

 Tarphiomimetes seem, as in the IVrpJiii, to be in some species obsolete ; 

 in which case they are represented by small and obscure patches of 

 rather paler pubescence ; and, as in the latter genus, the edges of the 

 prothorax are greatly modified, specifically, as to their degree of ex- 

 pansion. The excessive dissimilarity of these particular examples 

 inclines me to suspect that the group will probably be found to be a 

 very extensive one in New Zealand, where it may perhaps occupy a 

 position somewhat analogous to that which has been acquired by 

 Tarphius in the Madeiran and Canai'ian archipelagos. Prima facie. 



