4 INSECTA MADERENSIA. 



Labrum transverso-quadratum, antice setis paucis longis instructum. Mandibula incurvee acutae, 

 basi subdenticulatK. Maxilla bilobse : lobo externo palpiformi biarticulato : intcmo acuto incurvo, 

 apice uncinate, intus valde ciliato. Palpi articulo ultimo elongate, in maxillaribus ovato apice 

 truncate, in labiulibus subacuminato-ovato. Mentum transversuni, antice profunde emarginatuui 

 et dente medio nuUo instructum. Ligula cornea, apice retundata ciliata pilisque duabus longis 

 aucta; paraghssis ci connatis, subcoriaceis. Pedes longiusculi : <arm articulo quarto integro : 

 unguiculis serratis. 



Dromius contains some of the smallest of the known Carahklce ; and from 

 Torus, the only other Madeiran genus of the subfamily Brachinides, it may be 

 readily knoAvn by the comparatively minute size of the species ■which compose it, 

 by the absence of a central tooth to the emargination of its mentum, by the rounded 

 apex of its ligula, and by the acuminated terminal joint of its labial and maxillary 

 palpi, especially the former. Althoixgh occurring, more or less abundantly, in 

 most parts of the world, it is especially a European genus ; the species being found 

 principally beneath the bark of trees, amongst moss, in crevices of the earth, and 

 imder stones. They are extremely active in theu' movements, running with the 

 utmost velocity (whence indeed their name) ; and they are occasionally, like the 

 Tari, very gregarious. 



3. Dromius instdaris, WoU. 



D. lineari-elongatus testaceus parce pubescens subopacus, capita prothoraceque rufo-testaceis, hujus 



disco, elytrorum sutvu'a fasciaque pone medium abbreviata nigro-fuscis. 

 Long. corp. lin. 2j-2f . 



Habitat sub lapidibus in insulis Maderje, Desertse Grandis, et Desertse Borealis, ajstate rarissimus. 



D. elongate, somewhat broad and parallel, testaceous, nearly opake, covered, especially on the elytra, 

 with exceedingly fine, short, erect, distant hairs. Head large, broad, ovate, dark rufo-testaceous, 

 lengituchnally strigose between the eyes. Prothorax subquadrate, narrowed behind, about as 

 broad in front as the base of the elytra, deeply channelled, rufo-testaceous with the disk darker. 

 Elytra elongate, parallel, deeply striated, the strife impunctate, or ^>'ith a few indistinct irregular 

 impressions on the outer ones; the suture, and an abbreviated transverse fascia behind the 

 middle, fuscous or black. IVings obsolete. Claws very powerfully toothed intei'nally. 



This large and interesting Dromius is perhaps one of the rarest and most truly 

 indigenous insects which the Madeu-a Islands have hitherto produced. It would 

 appear to represent the common D. linearis of Northern and Central Euroi^e, 

 partaking liowever, almost equally, of the D. loiigiceps likewise, — althoiigh at the 

 same time abundantly distinct, specifically, from them both. In its large size, and 

 in the impunctate striae, dark sutui'e and obscui-e post-medial fascia of its el}i;ra, 

 it approaches the latter ; nevertheless it recedes from it altogether (apart from its 

 more opake and pubescent surface, and the less apical position of its elytral patch) 

 in its broader and more ])arallel form, less elongated antennae, and in its wider and 



