1900.] Catalogue of the Colcoptera of South Africa. 445' 



Rhyssemus celatus, n. spec. 



This species is very much hke li. promentorii, hut it is a httle more 

 slender, and the two examples which I have seen are more ferru- 

 ginous ; on the elytra the costa3 are more tectiform, much more 

 impressed laterally by the deeper transverse fovece which fill the 

 whole of the sides, but leave, at least in the dorsal part, a fine, only 

 slightly impressed transversely carinate line ; basal joint of posterior 

 tarsi as in B. promontorii. . 



Gen. PSAMMOBIUS, Heer., 

 Faun. Helvet., i., 1841, p. 531. 



Mentum obliquely attenuate laterally, emarginate at the tip, ligula 

 finely ciliate, bi-lobate, projecting beyond the mentum, labrum hidden 

 by the clypeus, upper lobe of maxillse partly horny, more or less- 

 arcuate and armed inwardly with some small teeth or spines, inner 

 lobe very narrow ; labial palpi with the first joint small, second a 

 little longer than the first, obliquely truncate inwardly at tip, apical 

 one large, sub-ovate, but more convex outwardly than inwardly, and 

 truncate at tip ; maxillary palpi with the apical joint nearly as long 

 as all the others put together, fusiform in the inner part and sub- 

 fusiform outwardly ; head convex, upper part of the eyes nearly- 

 hidden ; prothorax a little ampliate laterally in the middle, deeply 

 sulcate transversely in front and behind in the South African 

 species, slightly grooved longitudinally in the posterior part, and 

 having laterally a transverse fossa ; scutellum very small ; elytra 

 covering the abdomen ; presternum as in Aphod'ms ; anterior tibiae 

 tri-dentate outwardly ; tarsi short, first joint triangularly dilated, 

 shorter than the longer of the two apical spurs, claws very 

 small. 



The genus is represented in Europe, Syria, x\rabia, India, Ceylon, 

 Java, Northern America, and Africa (Northern Africa, Abyssinia). 

 There are three in South Africa, one of which, however, might prove 

 to be identical with one of the two new species now described. 



Key to the Species. 



Prothorax deeply foveato-punctate and with the supra-lateral 

 fovea very long and transverse ; intervals of elytra convex, striae 

 with a series of deep punctures impinging on the intervals . . . . modcstus. 



