276 DYNASTIX.i;. 



representative of the TN^estern and Central European Onjctes 

 nasicornis ; but, altliough there is a tendency for one or other of 

 the forms to preponderate in the different regions, they also occur 

 together, and when a large series is studied it becomes impossible 

 to divide them sharply. 



0. nasicornis is the largest and most common of the two or three 

 insects Avhich alone represent the essentially tropical subfamily 

 DiNASTiNiE in Europe. It is found in old decayed trunks of oak, 

 olive, chestnut and other trees, in accumulations of vegetable 

 debris in gardens, etc., and most commonly of all in the refuse 

 heaps of tanneries, from whicli, in the countries it inhabits, it is 

 said to be rarely absent. Westwood states that the larval period 

 lasts four or five years, but probably this is only when it is 

 retarded by unfavourable circumstances. The beetles conceal 

 themselves during the day and fly at dusk, appearing in Southern 

 Europe about July. Xambeu (Le IS'aturaliste, 1902, p. 102) 

 gives the following particulars : — The eggs when laid are coated 

 with a glutinous substance which causes the surrounding earthy 

 particles to adhere to and conceal them, an obvious protection 

 against hungry foragers. Twelve or fifteen eggs are deposited 

 not far apart within the tree or refuse-heap and hatch in fifteen 

 to twenty days. The larva feeds during the autumn and winter 

 and pupates in May. According to M. Fabre, this larva is the 

 natural prey of the great parasitic Wasp, Scolia hortorum, the 

 female of which seeks it out in its retreat and, having paralysed 

 it by stinging it in the ventral ganglion-mass, deposits an egg 

 beside the puncture. The Scolia grub rapidly devours the whole 

 interior of its immobile victim, leaving only an empty skin beside 

 which it forms its own cocoon. 



249. Oryctes desertorum, sp. n. 



? Oryctes sinaica, Walker, List of Coleopt. coll. by J. K. Lord in 

 Etjxjpt, etc., 1871, p. 13. 



Dark chestnut-red, with the pygidium, femora and lower surface 

 lighter and the head and pronotum sometimes darker. 



It is a small species, elongate, cylindrical, smooth and shining 

 above, and clothed with erect tawny setae beneath. The clypeus 

 has two sharp divergent teeth in front. T\\q pronotum is strongly 

 rounded at the sides, with the hind angles obliterated. It is ex- 

 cavated and rugose in front and smooth behind. The scutellvm is 

 irregularly punctured and the elytra are finely and irregularly 

 punctured, some of the punctures forming indistinct double rows. 

 The propyfjidium is finely transversely striated. The front tibia 

 is armed with three strong teeth and a blunt uppermost one, and 

 the middle and hind tibiae are strongly and sharply digitated at 

 the end. 



S . The head bears a strongly curved, not very long, horn and 

 is rugose at the sides. The pronotum has a broad, oval, rugose 



