INSECTA MADERENSIA. Ill 



P. oblong-oval, convex, and exceedingly highly polished; deep black; remotely punctured and very 

 sparingly pubescent. Prothorax rounded at the sides, being broadest a little behind the middle 

 and narrowed at its extreme base ; the posterior angles rounded. Elytra with the punctures 

 more perceptible than those on the prothorax ; broadly flavesccnt towards their apex, — though 

 more or less distinctly so in different specimens. AntenruB and legs pale testaceous. 



The only Ftenidium* , apparently, in the Madeira Islands ; and exceedingly 

 ahundant below the elevation of about 3000 feet. It resides principally at the 

 roots of grass and beneath fallen leaves, under which circumstances I have 

 captured it in. the utmost profusion in the Chestnut-woods at Santa Anna, and 

 in the dense forest region of the Lombo dos Pecegueiros, during the summer 

 months. On the southei'u side of the island it is equally common ; and it may 

 be often observed in gardens about Funchal. In that of the Rev. R. T. Lowe, at 

 the Levada, I have taken it in great abundance ; as also on the Pico do Cardo, 

 from under stones beneath the Tir-trees : and even, though more sparingly, on 

 the Dezerta Grande. 



Fam. 9. PHALACRIDJl. 



Genus 42. OLIBRUS. (Tab. II. fig. 9.) 



Erichsou, Nat. der Ins. Beutsch. iii. 113 (1848). 



Corpus minusculum, obovatum vel ellipticum, convexum, nitidissimum, glabrum : prothurace postice 

 lato : alis amplis. Antenna (II. 9 a) breviusculse, articulis primo et secundo (illo prsecipue) 

 crassis, tertio longiore graciliore, quarto ad octavum paulatim brevioribus sed latitudine vix 

 crescentibus, reliquis clavam magnam laxam oblongam triarticulatam efficientibus. Lnbrum 

 breve transversum, antice integrum ciliatuui. Mandibula (II. 9 6) validte incurvse, apice fortiter 

 bidentatse, intus basin versus membrana instructae. Maxilla (II. 9 c) bilobfe membranacese : 

 lobo externo longiusculo lato, apice dense barbato : interno brevi angusto pencillato. Palpi 

 maxillares (II. 9 c) breviusculi filiformes, articulo ultimo elongato-ovato : labiates (II. 9 d) breves, 

 sat robusti, articulo ultimo acuminato. Mentuni amplum transverso-quadratum membranaceum. 



* I cannot observe the slightest diflerence in any of the Madeiran specimens of this insect which I 

 have hitherto examined : nevertheless M. Motschulsky, since his late visit to England, has distributed 

 my series under three species, bearing the names of P. punctatvm, Gyll., elongatulum. Mots., and atoma- 

 roides, Mots. After a careful comparison however of the whole of them beneath the microscope, and 

 a consideration of the circimistances imder which they were taken, anything like specific distinctions 

 appear to me to be simply imaginary, since I am unable to detect so much as a single aberration out of 

 the entire number of sufficient importance to be regarded as even a variety. I have consequently 

 sunk them : and I believe that they are more correctly referred to the P. apicale, Stimn, than to any 

 other member of the genus. From the P. punctatum they diiier {vide Gyll. Ins. Suec. iv. 29.3, and 

 Stiurm's Beutsch. Fna, xvii. 8-1) in having the apex of their elytra always flavescent, and their punctiu-es 

 less apparent, — those moreover on the prothorax being the faintest and exceedingly few in niunber : 

 whereas in that insect the pimctm-es are described as being numerous, and more deeply impressed on the 

 prothorax than on the elytra. The prothorax also of the P. punctatum is of a different form. 



