INSECTA MADERENSIA. 127 



Genus 47. XENOSTRONGYLUS, Woll. (Tab. II. fig. 8.) 



Corpus parvum, convexum, valde pubescen.s : prothorace vix marginato : elytris abdomen totum tegen- 

 tibus : alls amplis. Antenna prothovacis longitudiiie, articulis primo et secundo (illo prscipue) 

 magnis crassis, tertio reliquis longiore graciliore, quarto ad octavum paulatim brevioribus scd vix 

 crassioribus, reliquis capitulum magnum subsolidum rotundato-oblongum triarticulatum effici- 

 entibus. Labrum prominulum transversum, antice profunde bilobum, lobis rotiindatis extus 

 ciliatis. Mandibula validae, in medio lata;, extus basi sinuate, intus membrana pubeseenti 

 instructs necnon ad apicem dentibus quatuor armats. Maxilla lobo singula elongato, apice 

 subdilatato pubeseenti, instructfe. Palpi subfiliformes, articulo secundo tertio longiore, ultimo 

 subfusiformi-truncato. Ligula elongata, apice biloba, lobis rotundatis ciliatis. Mentum trans- 

 verso-quadi-atum, antice profunde emarginatum. Pedes subcontractiles : tibiis ad marginem ex- 

 ternum integi-is : tarsis articulo quarto minutissimo, anticis articulis tribus dilatatis valde cordatis. 

 A ^€vo9 mirabilis, et Strongylus (genus Coleopterorum). 



The peculiar little insect, so singularly variegated externally, from which the 

 above generic diagnosis has been drawn out, woidd appear to be intermediate 

 between Meligethes on the one hand, and Thahjcra and Cychramus on the other ; 

 partaking of the former in its deeply bilobed upper Hp and in the construction of 

 its mandibles, whilst its very convex body, its extremely pubescent and variously- 

 coloui-ed sm-face, and its imserrated tibise would tend to associate it more evidently 

 with the latter. Its lichen-infesting habits however would indicate a closer affinity 

 with the StrongylincB than with any of the preceding forms ; nevertheless its oral 

 organs are so nearly similar to those of Meligethes that it clearly ovxght not to be 

 far removed from that group : — and I woi.dd therefore place it immediately after 

 it, in which position it constitutes a very natm'al passage to the Strongyli, which 

 in their tm*n lead us gradually on into the Colydiadce. From Cryptarcha, to 

 which it might be supposed at first sight to be related, it is readUy distinguished 

 by the remarkable construction of the antennae of that genus, which have not 

 only their basal joint inserted beneath the lateral margins of the head, but, like- 

 wise, the terminal articulation of their (perfoliated) club spongiose and greatly 

 truncated at its extremity, — where it is siu-mounted moreover by a smaU conical 

 excrescence. It seems to be the representative of a type which exists sparingly 

 in Mediterranean latitudes, but which has not hitherto, apparently, been charac- 

 terized. Thus, I am informed by M. Leon Fairmaire, of Paris, that he has lately 

 received the X. histrio fi'om SicUy ; whUst a second species* has come imder my 



* This species is closely allied to the Madeiran one, though unquestionably distinct from it specifically. 

 It may be briefly described as follows : — 



Xenostrongylus Canariensis, Woll. 

 X. brevis rotundato-ovatus subconvexus niger, pube nigrescenti, subcinerea et fulva subdepressa va- 



riegatus, antennis pedibusque infascato-testaceis. 

 Long. Corp. lin. §. 



Habitat in insulis Canariensibus, a Teneriffa a Itev''" Dom. Armitage commTinicatus. 



X. smaller than the X. liistrio, and not quite so convex, also of a much darker coloiu-, the surface being 



