INSECTA MADERENSIA. 101 



which had accumulated about the pig-sties and sewers, and other such-like filthy 

 receptacles of the rejectamenta of the town. At the base of the sea-wall at the 

 Santiago Fort he states that it is exceedingly common. 



Genus 37. SPH^RIDIUM. 



Fabricius, Si/st. JEleu.i. 92 (1801). 



Corpus miuusculum, subhemisplisericum, minus convexum : prothorace postice lato sinuato : ehjtris 

 fere baud striatis : mesosterno carinato : inetasterno piano, antice baud producto : alls ampbs. 

 Antenna S-articulatae breviusculse, articulo primo longissimo ad basin flexuoso, secundo brevi 

 subconico-truncato, tertio quartoque minutissimis, quinto lato brevissimo subpoculiformi, reliquis 

 clavam maguam pubescentem subperfoliatam elongato-ovalem triarticulatam efficientibus (ultimo 

 apice oblique truncate). Labrum breve transversum, antice integrum et dense ciliatum. Man- 

 dibulce validse, apice edentate incurvre, intus membranacese ciliatse. Maxilla bilobje membra- 

 nacese : lobo externa brevi lato, apice dense barbato : interno angustiore brevissimo, intus 

 membrana (ad apicem pencillata) instructo. Palpi maxillares lougiusculi, articulo secundo robusto 

 subclavato: labiales mediocres, articulo ultimo minuto, penultimo majore crasso. Mentum 

 amplum transverso-subquadratum anguiis anticis rotundatis, margiue antico subrotundato. Lujula 

 lata, profunde biloba, lobis divergentibus pubescentibus. Peies fossorii, robusti: femoribus 

 tibiisque compressis ; his valde spinosis et calcaratis, apicem versus dilatatis : tarsis articulo primo 

 elongato libero, anticis in maribus artieulis quatuor brevissimis, ultimo ad apicem valde uncinato- 

 ampliato. 



Then- 8-jointed antennae, and powerfully spined tibiae, added to the singularly 

 distorted and hooked terminal joint of their male fore-feet, will at once distinguish 

 the SphcsricUa from the members of the allied groups. They are larger and less 

 convex than the representatives of the following genus ; and their elytra are either 

 altogether unstriated, or else have the strise so excessively obsolete that they may 

 be practically regarded as such. In their habits they are purely stercoraceous, 

 not even having, apparently, the subaquatic tendency displayed by some of the 

 species of Cercyon. 



79. Sphseridimn bipustulatum. 



S. subhemisph?ericum sub-opacum nigrum, minutissime et crcberrime punctulatum, prothorace 

 elytrisque angustissime pallido-marginatis, his ad apicem late rufo-testaceis, singulo stria sutiu-ali 

 postica impresso et macula subhumerali rubescente obsoletissima vix perspicua ornato, pedibus 

 rufo-ferrugineis. 



Long. corp. lin. 2\-2\. 



8pli(rridium hipustiiJatum, Fab. Spec. Ins. i. 78 (1781). 

 Dermesies 4i-7naculatus, Mskm, Ent. Brit. 66 (1802). 

 Sphceridium marginatum, Heer, Fiia Col. Helv. 488, var. d. (1841). 

 bipustulatum, Mulsant, Palp. 154, var. B. (1844). 



Habitat Maderam, prajsertim infra 2000' s. m., in stercore bovino, toto anno frequens. 



