1873.] 157 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF SILIS FROM ANGOLA. 

 BY CHAS. O. WATEEIIOTJSE. 



SiLis APiCALis, sj). nov. 

 JVi//ra, elongata, ^;rt;'rtZ/(?/«, teniiissime puhescens ; ore, tliorace, 

 elyfrorum biisi, ahdomineq^ue (segmentis diiobus apicaUlus exceptls), 

 testaceis. Long. 3^ lin. 



Head gently contracted posteriorly, the surface extremely finely and moderately 

 thickly punctured, the forehead with a shallow impression, in the centre of which 

 there is an indication of a longitiidinal ridge, and on each side near the base of each 

 antenna a slightly raised nodule ; the clyjjeus testaceous, prolonged, wider and 

 rounded at the apes, with a very indistinct longitudinal ridge in the middle. Th 

 mandibles and other parts of the mouth, and part of the under-side of the head, 

 testaceous. Antennse about the same length as the elytra, slender ; 1st joint a little 

 shorter than the 3rd, testaceous at the base and on the under-side ; 2nd joint short, 

 testaceous at the base ; the 3rd to 10th joints very little wider towards their apices, 

 sub-equal. Thorax testaceous (with a black spot near the scutellum), a little broader 

 than long, a little broader than the head, with the anterior margin reflexed and 

 bowed in front over the head, the sides nearly parallel, terminating posteriorly in a 

 short, sharp spine, directed slightly outwards ; the sides in the middle with a slight 

 fold or incrassation above the margin ; the posterior margin angularly emarginate 

 over the scutellum, the posterior angles obliquely truncated with two small, obtuse 

 teeth, just within the lateral spine; the disc convex, divided longitudinally by a 

 deep, broad channel ; the whole surface excessively delicately antl not very thickly 

 punctured. Scutellum black, concave. Elytra scarcely broader than the thorax 

 (shoulders rounded), testaceous, with the apical two-fifths black, minutely coriaceous, 

 with the extreme base smooth, ileso- and metasterna black. The abdomen testa- 

 ceous, with the exception of the upper surface of the a^jical two segments, and the 

 two lateral triangular plates on the side of the apical segment. Legs black ; the 

 trochanters, the anterior coxa;, aud the under-side of the anterior and middle femora 

 reddish-testaceous. 



Hai., Angola. (J. J. Mouteiro, Esq.). Coll. Brit. Mus. 



Var. ? Thorax, uuder-sido, tlie inner side of the tibiae, abdomen, 

 scutellum, and basal two-tliirds of the elytra, testaceous. 



Hah., West Africa. 



British Museum : November, 1873. 



Note on Tijchius hwmatoceplialus. — In the early part of 1872, my friend Mr. 

 Lacy brought me for examination a Tycliius which ho had captured at Oosport ; 

 and I at once saw from its size and the shape of its thorax that I had nothing like 

 it in my collection. Some time later in the year, I showed it to the Rev. H. S. 

 Gorhara, while on a visit to Portsmouth, and he instantly recognized it as Tychius 

 hmmatoccphalus, a species that had not been taken in England for many years, — 



