464 CYRTID^ 



and becomes greyer about the postalar calli, and on the back part, and 

 especially on the scutellum where it is rather more erect. Pleurae bare on the 

 lower part, brilliantly shining down the middle part but slightly obscured by 

 grey dust in front and behind. 



Abdomen shining black, rather shallowly and not conspicuously punctulate, 

 the punctuation becoming scarcer and vague on the last three segments. All 

 the segments after the basal one have a I'ather broad bone-white hindmargin 

 which scarcely reaches the sidemargins, and on the second and third segments 

 this bone-white hindmargin is a little narrowed about the middle ; above 

 these hindmargins there is a considerable but varying amount of bone- 

 white coloring which is caused by a widening upwards of the hindmarginal 

 colour on to the disc of the segments between the middle and the sides, 

 sometimes in the form of long transverse spots scarcely connected with the 

 bone-white hindmargin but separated from it on the second segment by a 

 slight black line and on the third segment by a depressed line, while more 

 commonly it appears as about doubling the width of the bone-white hind- 

 margin for about the same space, or in the whitest forms the extreme fore- 

 margins of the third and fourth segments and sometimes of the fifth bear on 

 each side a long transverse luteous sj^ot which may amalgamate with the 

 extended white coloring ; the bone-white hindmargin of the third segment is 

 usually rather wuder than that of the second and, without its widening, occupies 

 about one-third of the segment ; on the fourth segment the whitish hind- 

 margin occupies fully half the segment and usually forms a broad well-defined 

 band, but sometimes its upper margin is irregular about the middle ; on the 

 fifth segment (the last apparent segment) all the hindmargin quite to the 

 sidemargins is bone-white and occupies about half or more of the segment, 

 but the fore-edge of this white marking (while usually straight) may have 

 a shallow emargination on each side of the middle ; sixth segment small, 

 concealed under the fifth segment, with its basal half black and its end half 

 bone-white ; sometimes even the basal segment has a narrow bone- white hind- 

 niargin. The whitest specimen I have seen has the abdomen bone-white, 

 ^\dth the small basal segment and three subquadrate dorsal spots black, and this 

 is caused by the bone-white coloring extending up from the hindmargins until 

 it meets the two luteous transverse spots along the foremargins, whereby the 

 second segment is left with a subquadrate black spot on its middle which at 

 its widest part is less than one-third the width of the segment and is narrowest 

 at its fore part but gradually widens downwards and at the middle of its 

 slightly arched hind part extends up to the bone-white hindmargin ; 

 the third segment has a similar spot (larger but not so large in comparison 

 with the size of the segment) occupying about one-third the \vidth of the 

 segment and not sharply defined against the foremargin but at its hindmargin 

 fully one-third of the segment away from the bone-white hindmargin except 

 for a slight prolongation just at its middle ; the fourth segment has a shallow 

 transvei'se black spot along its foremargin which occupies hardly more than 

 one-third the depth of the segment and which dies away at the side sixth ; 

 the fifth segment has a black foremargin with two very shallow indistinct 

 long luteous transverse markings against the absolute foremargin but other- 

 wise nearly equal all across the segment ; the sixth segment has a sharply 

 defined black basal line which occupies nearly half the segment ; the fore- 

 margins of the third and fourth segments outside the black spots are rather 

 luteous. Occasionally the bone-white hindmargin of the second segment is so 

 much narrowed about the middle as to be interrupted, while that on the third 

 segment is reduced to a fine line. When viewed sideways the lower margin 

 of the dorsal plate is all black except very narrowly at the hindmarginal 

 corners, while the outer margin of the ventral plate is all bone-white. As a 

 rule the larger the specimen the moi-e extended is the white coloring on the 

 abdomen. Pubescence greyish yellow or pale yellow, ubii[uitous but depi'essed 

 and inconspicuous, not at all long, rather scarce and slight and whitish on 

 the last three segments. Belly nearly bare, all six segments well visible, 

 rather brightly shining, nearly all bone-white except at the black base and 

 tip and on the broadish black often interruiited line running down near (but 

 not close to) the sides and often not extended to the end segments, but 

 often the foremargin of each segment rather narrowly and irregularly blackish, 



