1900.] Catahquc of the Cohoptcra of SoittJi Africa. 513 



coxae ; anterior til)ice tri- or quadri-dentato outwardly and having 

 some intermediate or supra-digital serrate teeth ; the intermediate 

 and posterior tibite have respectively three and two ciliate carina? 

 in chevron, and are bi-emarginate on the upper side ; the anterior 

 tarsi vary in the two sexes, they are short and thick in the male, 

 the apical joint being much inflated, longer than the two preceding and 

 not spinose, the outer claw is very slendei', l)ut the inner one is very 

 broad, laminate, curved downwards in the direction of the under 

 surface of the apical joint, and is slightly emarginate inwardly at tip 

 or sometimes feebly dentate there, while in the female these tarsi are 

 moderately slender, the apical joint is not swollen, and the two 

 claws are simple and equal ; the intermediate and posterior ones 

 are in both sexes a little more slender than the anterior ones of the 

 female. 



I have divided the South African species into two groups, accord- 

 ing to the shape of the stridulating striae on the pygidium, which are 

 either very fine and extend across the median part of the pygidium, 

 or are in the shape of two vertical, oblique rows, the striae themselves 

 being very short and set somewhat apart. 



Two species, H. arator and H. wilinsi, sometimes prove a source of 

 trouble to the agriculturist, the former, especially in the Cape Colony, 

 to the vine- and potato-grower, and the latter doing, it is alleged, much 

 damage to the sugar-cane plantations in Natal. One of the normal 

 enemies of H. arator is a Hymenopteron Scolia fodvofimbriata , 

 Burm., which I found in very great numbers at Stellenbosch in a 

 field of sweet potatoes, infected by this beetle. 



All the South African species are very much alike, and with the 

 exception of H. claudius, which is also an inhabitant of Senegambia, 

 are difficult of identification. The shape, however, of the genital 

 armature is of great use in the discrimination of species, and it 

 varies considerably. 



The genus is represented in Africa (Sierra Leone, Senegal, Gaboon, 

 Abyssinia, Gallaland, the Tanganyka region, German East Africa),. 

 Madagascar, India, Java, Australia, and New Caledonia. 



Key to tJie Species. 



X". Head with two tubercles, stridulation striae straight. 

 B5. Anterior tibiae quadri-dentate outwardly. 

 C". Prothorax with two median tubercles. 



Stridulating striae transverse, very indistinct, not 

 divided ; fold of pygidium very narrow, simple at 



middle claudius. 



33 



